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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR-U. S, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
CHARLES B. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR 



THE 



WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS 



BT 



FRANK LEVEEETT 



EXTRACT FROM THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SURVEY, 1 893-96 
PART II— ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND HYDROGRAPHY 




/ 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1896 



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THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



BY 



FRANK LEVERETT. 



6137 1 



APR 13 1905 
D.ofD, 



10$ 



V 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

General statement 7 

Chapter I. Physical features 9 

Altitude 9 

Relief 10 

Effect of the drift upon topography and drainage 12 

The Chicago outlet of Lake Michigan 17 

Drainage basins 18 

Illinois River 18 

Des Plaines River 19 

Kankakee River 19 

Fox River 19 

Illinois-Vermilion River 19 

Spoon River 20 

Mackinaw River 20 

Sangamon River 20 

Macoupin Creek 21 

Rock River .■ 21 

Tributaries of the Mississippi in western Illinois 22 

Kaskaskia River 23 

Big Muddy River 23 

Tributaries of the Wabash 23 

Chapter II. The rainfall 24 

Chapter III. Therun-off 36 

Qualifying conditions 36 

Usual regimen of Illinois streams 38 

Stream measurements 39 

Rock River 39 

The Upper Mississippi 41 

Illinois River 41 

Kankakee River 46 

Des Plaines River 46 

Fox River 48 

Sangamon River 48 

Streams of southern Illinois 48 

Chapter IV. Navigable waters 50 

Chapter V. Water power 52 

Chapter VI. Water supplies for cities and villages 54 

General statement 54 

Surface water 55 

Shallow wells in valleys 57 

Wells in glacial drift 60 

Shallow wells in rock 65 

Deep wells in rock 68 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Chapter VII. Water supplies for rural districts 71 

Ground-water wells 71 

Drift wells with wide or remote absorption areas 76 

Flowing wells from the drift 78 

General statement 78 

Flo wing- well district of Iroquois and adjoining counties 79 

Flowing wells in northern Vermilion County 84 

Earlville flo wing-well district 85 

Au Sable Creek flowing wells and Springs 86 

Palatine flowing- well district 87 

Salt Creek flowing-well district 87 

Farmer City waterworks well 88 

Sycamore waterworks wells 88 

Wells of moderate depth in rock 88 

Chapter VIII. Artesian wells 91 

General statement 91 

The Paleozoic rocks in Illinois 94 

Distribution of outcrops 94 

Altitude and attitude of the strata 96 

Altitude of the base of the Coal Measures 98 

Altitude of the St. Peter sandstone in Illinois 100 

Thickness of the Paleozoic formations 102 

Structure of the rock formations 102 

The Tertiary deposits 107 

Geographic distribution of wells 107 

Stratigraphic distribution of wells : 108 

Depth of wells 109 

Tabulation of artesian-well data 110 

Altitude Ill 

Capacity Ill 

Casing Ill 

Head „ Ill 

Quality of water 113 

Chapter IX. Water analyses 125 

Chapter X. An account of the Paleozoic rocks explored by deep borings at 

Eock Island, 111., and vicinity, by J. A. Udden 135 

General statement 135 

Stratigraphic features 137 

The Devonian limestone 138 

The Niagara limestone 140 

The Hudson River shale 140 

The Galena limestone 141 

The Trenton limestone 142 

The St. Peter sandstone and associated variable beds 143 

The Lower Magnesian limestone 145 

The Potsdam rocks 145 

Examination of well drillings 148 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page. 

f ' Plate CVIII. Topographic map of Illinois and "western Indiana 10 

/ CIX. Map of the Pleistocene deposits 12 

" CX. Relation of the drift to the ordinary wells 74 

J CXI. Main absorbing areas for the Potsdam and St. Peter formations 

in Wisconsin 92 

1 CXII. Geologic formations of Illinois and western Indiana 94 

J CXIII. Hypsographic map of St. Peter sandstone, showing the distri- 
bution of artesian wells 100 

Fig. 66. Section to illustrate the aid afforded by a high-water surface between 

the fountain head and the well. (After T. C. Chamberlin.) 91 

67. Section from the Wisconsin River in Grant County, Wis., southward 

to Cap au Gr6s, near the mouth of the Illinois 93 

68. Section from Galena, 111., to Olney, 111 93 

69. Section from Davenport, Iowa, to Joliet, 111 98 

70. Section across southern Wisconsin from Prairie du Chien to Mil- 

waukee 103 

71. Map showing location of deep wells in Davenport, Moline, Rock Island, 

and suburbs, by J. A. Udden 135 

72. Geological section from Davenport, Iowa, to Milan, 111 136 

73. Geological section from Davenport, Iowa, to Carbon Cliff, 111 137 

74. Geological section for Rock Island and vicinity, by J. A. Udden 148 

5 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



By Frank Leverett. 



GENERAL STATEMENT. 

The paper here presented embraces material gathered chiefly in con- 
nection with a detailed study of the glacial drift which the writer 
began some ten years since. It should therefore be understood that it 
does not represent a special investigation of the water resources. In 
the study of glacial deposits natural exposures were found to be so 
limited that it was necessary to collect well records, and of these about 
3,000 were collected in the State of Illinois. They are so distributed 
as to embrace nearly every county of the State which was encroached 
upon by the ice sheet. No records have been obtained in the ungla- 
ciated counties of southern Illinois aside from a few in the city of 
Cairo. 

The glacial deposits yield such an abundance of good water that over 
a large part of the State but few wells have gone below these deposits. 
Where the drift is thin, wells have entered the rock. In northern and 
western Illinois much prospecting for artesian water has been done. 

The "logs" of wells are seldom sufficiently full or reliable to warrant 
publication, and the writer has had very little opportunity to examine 
well drillings. From many of the wells, however, information of more 
or less value has been obtained which throws light upon the character 
and availability of such water. 

No investigation of the water power of the streams has been under- 
taken further than the collocation of results obtained by others ; but 
the use of streams as sources for city water supply has been investi- 
gated, and analyses of waters from this source, as well as from other 
sources, have been obtained. 

A special circular letter pertaining to city water supply was mailed 
to town officials, or others qualified to give information, in all the towns 
of the State having a population of 1,000 or more. The generous 
response to that letter makes it possible to present a somewhat full 
report upon this subject. 

The data on rainfall were obtained from the United States Weather 
Bureau, and data for the discussion of rainfall for 1895 — a year of 
exceptional drought — were obtained through the assistance of the 
directors of the State Weather Service in Illinois and adjoining States. 

7 



8 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

The writer is thus under obligations to many who have supplied 
information. He is especially indebted to Mr. Daniel W. Mead, C. E., 
of Eockford, 111., who, by correspondence as well as by published 
material, has aided greatly in the preparation of this paper. Mr. Mead 
has issued several pamphlets dealing with water resources of small 
areas in Illinois and Wisconsin, and also a pamphlet on the Hydro- 
geology of the Mississippi Eiver Basin, which presents, largely in 
tabular form, the material scattered through various State documents 
of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois, as well as Government 
publications, and covers a range of topics as wide as those embodied 
in the present paper, though somewhat different from them. 1 

Thanks are also due to Mr. L. E. Cooley, 0. E., of the Chicago Drain- 
age Commission, for assistance in supplying data on the work of that 
commission in connection with the proposed lake and gulf waterway 
across Illinois. 

Through the kindness of Prof. C. W. Eolfe, of the University of 
Illinois, the writer was permitted to make a tracing of 50-foot con- 
tours from the unpublished map sheets in his office, as explained fur- 
ther on. These contours appear on the base map used in several of 
the illustrations. 

Prof. J. A. Udden, of Eock Island, has made a special examination 
of the artesian wells in the vicinity of that city, and has submitted a 
report (published herewith) on the character of the rock formations, 
based upon his examination of well drillings. 

The writer should also acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. E. H. 
Newell for numerous valuable aids furnished during the preparation of 
this paper, and to Prof. T. C. Chamberlin for guidance in field study. 

1 Hydrogeology of the Upper Mississippi Valley and some of the adjoining territory, by Daniel W. 
Mead, C. E. : Jour. Assoc. Eng. Soc, vol. 13, No. 7, July, 1894. 68 pages, with 6 maps. 



OHAPTEE I. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

ALTITUDE. 

Illinois lias the distinction of being the lowest of the ISTorth Central 
States. It lies in the midst of the great interior basin, which on the 
east rises to the Appalachian Mountains and on the west to the Rocky 
Mountains. The mean elevation of the State is about 600 feet, while 
that of the bordering States is as follows: Indiana, 700 feet; Michigan, 
900 feet; Wisconsin, 1,050 feet; Iowa, 1,100 feet; Missouri, 800 feet. 1 

The State has been covered by a careful barometric survey, conducted 
by Prof. O. W. Eolfe, of the University of Illinois, a survey which had 
for its object the preparation of a topographic model of the State for 
the Columbian Exposition. Professor Eolfe used as datum points the 
altitudes of railway stations which had been determined by surveyor's 
level. These are found in nearly every county of the State, at inter- 
vals so frequent that there is but little room for error in his maps. He 
has exercised great care in reducing to a minimum errors arising from 
barometric fluctuations. From Professor Eolfe's map sheets, which are 
as yet unpublished, the accompanying map has been prepared, showing 
the altitude of the greater part of the State by contours with 50-foot 
interval. In the hilly, driftless tracts in the northwest corner and in 
the southern end of the State the surface is so uneven that only 100- 
foot contours are introduced, and for very small areas these are neces- 
sarily omitted. 2 

The writer has made an estimate, from Professor Eolfe's map sheets, 
of the area included between 100-foot contours, the results being as 
shown in the table on the next page. The highest points are situated 
in the northern counties, there being four counties (Jo Daviess, Steph- 
enson, Boone, and McHenry) in which points rise above 1,000 feet above 
tide. In a general way the altitude decreases from north to south. The 
decrease is, however, far from regular, and a prominent ridge in the 
southern part of the State rises nearly to the altitude of the northern 
portion, its crest reaching at one point an altitude of 1,047 feet (Eolfe). 

•The average elevation of the United States, by Henry Gannett: Thirteenth Ann. Rept. XT. S. 
Geol. Survey, 1892, p. 289. 

2 In the portion of Indiana embraced in the map, 100-foot contours have been introduced, based prin- 
cipally upon a combination of railway-survey altitudes of towns with aneroid readings taken by the 
writer and on a general acquaintance with the relief and other features. 

9 



10 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



A refereuce :o the accompanying map (PI. OVIII) will serve to make 
clear the altitudes and slopes of the State. 

The highest point in the State (1,257 feet) is Charles Mound, on the 
Illinois- Wisconsin line, in the northwest county. None of the State 
is below 300 feet at high- water stages of the Mississippi and Ohio; 
hence, no account is taken of such portions of their valleys as may fall 
below 300 feet at low water. It appears from the table below that only 
125 square miles, or less than four townships, rise above the 1,000-foot 
contour, and that only 10,747 square miles, or less than one-fifth of the 
State, falls below the 500-foot contour. A computation of the average 
altitude of the State was made by assuming for the area between two 
consecutive contours an average elevation halfway between these con- 
tours. This assumption is not absolutely correct, but, as indicated by 
Mr. John Murray, in a paper in the Scottish Geographic Magazine, 1 it 
involves no serious error. The areas between consecutive contours 
were then multiplied by their assumed average elevations, the several 
products added together, and the sum divided by the total area of the 
State. By this method the average elevation of the State is found 
to be 632 feet, or but little different from the estimate made by Mr. 
Gannett prior to Mr. Eolfe's survey. It appears from the table that 
20,000 square miles, or more than one-third of the State, stands between 
600 and 700 feet above tide, or at about the average elevation of the 
State. 

Areas of Illinois between 100-foot contours. 



Above 1,200 feet 

Between 1,100 and 1,100 feet 
Between 1,000 and 1,100 feet 
Between 900 and 1,000 feet . 
Between 800 and 900 feet . . . 
Between 700 and 800 feet 
Between 600 and 700 feet 
Between 500 and 600 feet 
Between 400 and 500 feet 
Between 300 and 400 feet 

Total area of Illinois . 



Square miles. 



1 


6 


118 


1,009 


3,981 


11, 127 


20, 058 


9,603 


8,822 


1,925 



56, 650 



RELIEF. 



The relief of this district is so inconspicuous as to merit but brief 
attention in a discussion of the water resources. The greater part of 
the State is so nearly plane that it is difficult to discern the slope 

'On the height of the land and the depth of the ocean : Scottish Geog. Mag., vol. 4, No. 1, January, 
1888. 



LEVERETT.] RELIEF. H 

without instrumental aid. There are, however, a few iuorainic belts, 
mentioned on another page, and a few ridges with rock nuclei, which 
are of sufficient prominence to merit a passing word. 

The most prominent ridge is that of the so-called Ozark uplift, in the 
southern end of the State. This consists of a narrow belt of elevated 
land, scarcely 10 miles in average width, which crosses southern Illinois 
in an east-west course from near Shawneetown, on the Ohio, to Grand 
Tower, on the Mississippi. The crest of the ridge stands mainly between 
700 and 800 feet above tide, or about 300 feet above border tracts, but, 
as previously noted, it rises at one point to a height of 1,047 feet. The 
points which stand much above 800 feet are, however, rare, and in the 
form of knobs, as may be seen by reference to the contour map (PI. 
CVIII). The importance of this ridge in the discussion of water 
resources consists not so much in the fact of its being a divide between 
drainage basins as in its influence upon wells, it being difficult to 
obtain water along its crest. 

In a few places along the eastern border of the Mississippi, from the 
western terminus of this ridge to the mouth of the Illinois, the Lower 
Carboniferous limestone rises markedly higher than the Coal Measures 
plain to the east, its general altitude being about 650 feet, while that 
of the border portion of the Coal Measures plain seldom exceeds 500 
feet. In one place, in southern Jersey County, an altitude of over 
800 feet is attained. 

In the northwestern counties of the State are the so-called "mounds" 
of Niagara limestone, which rise abruptly 75 to 300 feet above bordering 
portions of the upland. In the aggregate these mounds cover but a 
few square miles. They are the remnants of formations which were 
once continuous over this region, as has been indicated by Professor 
Worthen. 1 

In the southeastern portion of the State, on the borders of the 
Wabash, there are a few low ridges and mounds of Coal Measures strata 
which rise above the general level of the bordering plains to heights 
seldom exceeding 100 feet. These are of very limited extent, covering 
in the aggregate but a few townships. 

Aside from these instances the rock surface very rarely rises above 
the general level of the drift cover. It is probable that beneath the 
drift cover of the State there are forms similar to those of the district 
bordering the Wabash, and perhaps in the northern portions there are 
mounds as conspicuous as those of Jo Daviess County which have 
been covered by the heavier accumulations of drift which occur there. 
Such reliefs can be made out only by careful study of well borings and 
a full knowledge of the thickness of the drift. 

1 Geology of Illinois, Vol. I, 1866, p. 4. 



12 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



EFFECT OF THE DRIFT UPON TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE. 

The discussion of the drift features will help to an understanding 
of peculiarities of drainage as well as of the topography, for the drift 
has a topography of its own, which to a great degree determines the 
boundaries of drainage basins. 

The southern limit of the glacial drift in Illinois is at the northern 
border of the prominent ridge above noted, which crosses the southern 
end of the State. Eastward the glacial boundary soon enters Indiana, 
but northwestward it remains within the limits of the State as far as 
St. Louis, and leaves the valley nearly free from till as far north as 
Quincy. Thin deposits of drift cover the greater part of the limestone 
ridges which appear along the east bluff of that portion of the Missis- 
sippi. From Quincy northward nearly to Savanna heavy deposits 
occur, which have in two cases (at the Des Moines and at the Eock 
Island rapids) been sufficient to displace the pre-glacial stream and 
compel it to excavate a new channel — in the Des Moines rapids for a 
distance of about 12 miles, and in the Eock Island rapids (with the 
continuation to Muscatine in a narrow valley) a distance of 40 miles. 
Above Savanna is the driftless area of the Upper Mississippi, which 
in its Illinois portion covers much of Jo Daviess County and portions 
of Stephenson and Carroll counties. 

In southern Illinois, for about 75 miles north from the extreme limits 
of glaciation, or to about the latitude of St. Louis, Mo., the drift is so 
thin that it has not greatly changed the principal pre-glacial lines, its 
usual thickness being scarcely 30 feet; but north from that latitude the 
streams rarely for any great distance follow pre-glacial lines. The 
notable exceptions are the Mississippi, which follows pre-glacial drain- 
age lines throughout much of its course, and the lower Illinois, which 
from the bend near Hennepin to its mouth, a distance of over 200 
miles, is mainly in a pre-glacial valley. 

Of the drift-covered district north from the latitude of St. Louis, a 
large portion has such an amount of drift as to completely conceal the 
pre-glacial features. This includes almost the entire northeastern 
third of the State. West and south of this tract of very heavy drift 
there are many places where the pre-glacial divides can still be dis- 
covered, and in a rude way the drainage conforms to that of pre-glacial 
times; the valleys tend to follow pre-glacial lines, though they seldom 
coincide with them; the water partings tend to follow pre-glacial 
divides, but are not strictly coincident with them. 

The complete concealment of pre-glacial features is restricted mainly 
to the limits of the ice invasion which terminated at the Shelbyville 
moraine, the position of which is indicated on the accompanying glacial 
map (PI. CIX). It will be observed that this moraine crosses the Kas- 
kaskia at Shelbyville, the Sangamon a few miles west of Decatur, and the 
Illinois at Peoria. Prom Shelbyville it passes eastward into Indiana; 



lbvkkett.] EFFECT OF DRIFT ON TOPOGRAPHY. 13 

from I'eoria it passes northward, with an occasional slight curve to tlie 
east, into Wisconsin. The drift to the west and south from this moraine 
is markedly older than the moraine, and is called the older drift. This 
moraine and the surface portion of the drift in the district between it 
and Lake Michigan are called the newer drift. 

The drainage systems have reached a much more advanced stage in 
the older drift than in the newer. The difference in stage of develop- 
ment is so marked, as represented in the topographical model of the 
State, prepared by Professor Kolfe, that it is said to have occasioned 
much comment from visitors at the World's Columbian Exposition, 
where the model was exhibited. This feature is apparent also on the 
topographic map here presented (PI. CVIII). It can not be urged that 
greater advantages for ±he development of drainage lines are to be 
found in the older drift, for, so far as altitude and slope are concerned, 
the newer drift has the advantage, it being generally more elevated 
and more diversified in slope than the older drift. The differences in 
the structure are not great, the drift throughout both sections being 
composed mainly of bowlder clay. The bowlder clay of the newer 
drift is now more easily eroded than that of the older, but the hard- 
ness of the older drift may have been acquired since drainage lines were 
developed in it. 

The average thickness of drift for the entire glaciated portion of the 
State is about 75 feet. The thickness of the drift in the district out- 
side of the Shelbyville moraine is less than half as great as that of 
the district between the moraine and Lake Michigan. It is estimated 
that the newer drift of Illinois, although confined to less than half the 
drift-covered portion of the State, is as great in amount as the older 
drift. The usual thickness of the older drift, aside from filled valleys, 
is but 20 to 50 feet, while the thickness where both the older and newer 
drift are present is usually 100 to 150 feet. This great contrast in 
thickness is to be seen at the border of the Shelbyville moraine, and is 
shown by the relief of the moraine above districts west and south of 
it, as well as by the borings, which reveal corresponding distance to 
rock. On the contour map (PI. CVIII) it will be observed that two of 
the 50-foot contours are usually required to indicate the relief of the 
moraine above the district south and west of it. 

In the portion of the State covered by the newer drift there is a suc- 
cession of morainic ridges formed by the ice sheet during its retreat 
from the Shelbyville moraine. These ridges are separated by drift 
plains or basins from a mile or two up to 30 or 40 miles in width. These 
plains usually show a gradual rise on their landward (west and south) 
borders, while on the iceward borders (toward the Lake Michigan 
basin) they are found to rise abruptly to a moraine. The streams which 
now drain this region naturally chose the axes of these basins for their 
main channels, while the slopes carry the tributaries. It is the long- 
slopes on the west and south and the short slopes on the opposite side 



14 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

which have caused the tributaries of the streams to be mainly from the 
west and south. 

In the older drift there are very few morainic ridges, and these have 
seldom controlled drainage. As a rule, the drainage lines of that part 
of the State either conform to pre-glacial Hues or follow belts where 
through some incident in drift filling the surface was left slightly 
lower than the general level. In the newer drift the high ground 
which determines the position of the main water partings is ordinarily 
a morainic ridge, but in the older drift it is usually the line of a pre- 
glacial divide. A brief review of the drainage features will make this 
apparent. 

In southern Illinois the present division of the waters between tribu- 
taries of the Wabash and tributaries of the Mississippi corresponds in 
a rude way with that of pre-glacial times. Many of the small branches 
disregard pre-glacial lines, but the main streams entering both the 
Wabash and the Mississippi depart but little from pre-glacial lines of 
similar-sized streams. 

In southwestern Illinois the present water parting between streams 
flowing northeast to the Sangamon and those flowing southwest to the 
Illinois conforms to a pre-glacial divide; but the small streams which 
lead from this divide to the Sangamon and the Illinois are thought to 
have taken their present courses through some deficiency in the drift- 
filling, for several of them are cutting new channels in rock in portions 
of their courses. 

In the district lying between the lower course of the Sangamon and 
the Shelbyville moraine there is a pre-glacial basin filled so heavily 
with drift that the streams are entirely independent of pre-glacial 
drainage. 

In western Illinois the present water parting between the Illinois 
and Mississippi apparently follows in the main the pre-glacial divide. 
In Pike County, however, Bay Creek, a tributary of the Mississippi, 
was evidently tributary to the Illinois in pre-glacial time, and was 
forced by the presence of the ice sheet near its mouth to cross an old 
watershed in its westward course to the Mississippi. 

In northwestern Illinois changes of much consequence have oc- 
curred. The pre-glacial Bock Eiver appears to have passed south- 
ward from Bockford to the Illinois Valley at the bend near Hennepin. 
The old valley is traceable as a trough, partially filled with drift, to 
the vicinity of Eochelle, in southeastern Ogle County, where it passes 
beneath the Shelbyville moraine and its further course is completely 
concealed. The present stream enters a new valley near the mouth of 
the Kishwaukee and crosses an old upland through Ogle and north- 
western Lee counties, where it enters a lowland known as the Green 
Eiver Basin. It crosses this lowland tract, and near its mouth enters 
the uplands again to join the Mississippi in its course across the Eock 
Island rapids. The stream is therefore not only in a new course, but 



leveeett.] EFFECT OF DRIFT ON TOPOGRAPHY. 15 

in a course which shows remarkably little regard for the pre-glacial 
topography. The lowland referred to was formerly connected with the 
lower Illinois, but, like the soiithward course of Rock River, it became 
completely filled by the Shelbyville moraine, and the drainage was 
forced westward into the Mississippi either at the time that moraine 
was formed or at the time of an earlier ice invasion. Green River now 
furnishes the line of discharge for the main part of this lowland, but 
drains it very inadequately. 

The district to the northwest of Rock River has apparently suffered 
slight changes of drainage. The main western tributary of Rock 
River, the Pecatonica, is in its pre-glacial course, but a western 
branch of that stream (Yellow Creek), entering at Freeport, has been 
beheaded, the head-water portion having been turned into the Missis- 
sippi through Apple River by a deposit of drift in the middle course of 
the old stream north of Stockton. The drainage of northern Carroll 
County has also been changed by drift deposits in the old valleys. A 
good illustration is found in Carroll Creek, which is in a new course at 
the rapids near Mount Carroll, while its head waters follow an old valley 
which apparently entered the Mississippi several miles farther south 
than the present mouth of the stream. 

Considering the newer drift, the Shelbyville moraine, although as 
prominent as any of the moraines in Illinois, does not to any marked 
degree constitute a water parting. It is crossed by small as well as by 
large streams which have found their sources in the somewhat elevated 
plaiu on its north and east borders. 

A prominent water parting is found in a moraine, or rather system 
of moraines, which north from Peoria is closely associated with the 
Shelbyville moraine, but which southeast from that city lies much 
farther north — the system on or near which Bloomington, Gibson City, 
Paxton, and Hoopston are situated, and which is termed the Bloom- 
ington system. From this morainic system the Sangamon and several 
of its northeastern tributaries lead southwest, the Big Vermilion leads 
southeast, the south branches of the Iroquois lead north, the Illinois- 
Vermilion leads northwest, and the Mackinaw leads west. 

Between this morainic system and the Shelbyville moraine there is 
in eastern Illinois a less prominent morainic system, well developed 
near Champaign, and known as the Champaign moraine, which forms 
the head of the Kaskaskia and the Embarras rivers. The plain 
between this moraine and the stronger moraines to the north is drained 
at the west by the Sangamon and at the east by tributaries of the Big 
Vermilion and by Little Vermilion River. 

The Illinois- Vermilion River drains an extensive plain lying between 
the Bloomington morainic system and a later morainic system (the 
Marseilles), following closely the southwest border of the later system. 

The Mackinaw River follows for a short distance the inner (north- 
east) border of the Bloomington morainic system and then turns south- 



16 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

west across it and continues across the Shelbyville moraine into the 
Illinois. The other streams mentioned, as a rule, take courses directly 
away from the moraines, though Big Vermilion flows for much of its 
course in a narrow trough between two members of the Bloomington 
morainic system, and Little Vermilion follows throughout much of its 
course the north border of the Champaign moraine. The Iroquois 
drains an extensive plain or drift basin between the Bloomington and 
the Marseilles moraines — a basin noted for the flowing wells which 
it yields — and also a small basin in western Indiana, inclosed by a 
moraine of the Erie-Saginaw series, through which it passes just west 
of the State line. (See PI. OIX.) 

North of the Illinois is Fox Biver, in its lower course draining a 
plain lying west of the Marseilles moraine, and having tributaries 
mainly on its west side, because it follows closely the border of the 
Marseilles moraine. The head-water portion of Fox Biver for a dis- 
tance of 75 miles lies in the midst of morainic ridges. 

On the inner border of the Marseilles moraine, around the head of 
the Illinois, is a plain or basin drained in its northern portion by Au 
Sable Creek and in its southern portion by Mazon Creek. The slope 
of this basin throws the drainage eastward to the head of the Illinois. 
Upon entering that stream the water returns westward, passing through 
the moraine and out of the basin at Marseilles. 

A narrow drift ridge (the Minooka moraine) runs south into this 
basin as far as the head of the Illinois. To the east of this ridge is a 
narrow plain drained by the Dupage, whose eastern border is the Val- 
paraiso moraine. 

From the head of the Illinois a plain some 25 miles in width extends 
eastward far into Indiana, constituting the main part of the drainage 
basin of the Kankakee. On its north is the Valparaiso moraine (named 
from Valparaiso, Ind., which is situated upon it), while on its east and 
south are moraines belonging to the Erie-Saginaw series. (See Third 
Ann. Bept. U. S. Geol. Survey, PI. XXXI.) 

Between the Valparaiso moraine and Lake Michigan, Calumet Biver 
is found at the east and the Des Plaiues and Chicago rivers at the 
north. Calumet and Chicago rivers discharge into Lake Michigan, 
but the Des Plaiues turns southwest through the Valparaiso moraine, 
following a former outlet of Lake Michigan to the Illinois known as 
the " Chicago Outlet." Throughout most of its course before entering 
the Chicago Outlet the Des Plaines flows in a narrow drift basin hav- 
ing the Valparaiso moraine on its western and a smaller moraine on 
its eastern border. 

The well borings, and also to some extent the valleys of the present 
Fox, Des Plaines, and Kankakee rivers, throw some light upon the 
probable position of the pre-glacial divide west of Lake Michigan. 
They show that the Magara limestone rises westward from the border 
of Lake Michigan to an altitude 50 to 100 feet or more above the 
present lake level, along a line leading southward across northeastern 



leverett.] THE CHICAGO OUTLET. 17 

Illinois. This elevated portion of the limestone is crossed by Fox River 
below Elgin, by Des Plaines River between Lemont and Joliet, and by 
the Kankakee a short distance east of the State line. It seems highly 
probable that this constituted a pre-glacial water parting, and that the 
head-water portions of Fox, Des Plaines, and Kankakee rivers were 
in pre-glacial times tributary to the Lake Michigan basin. This ridge 
is the ouly probable water parting in the entire region covered by 
the newer drift of Illinois which the writer was able to recognize. 

THE CHICAGO OUTLET OF LAKE MICHIGAN. 

The south westward or ''Chicago Outlet" of Lake Michigan, as pointed 
out some years since by Col. James H. Wilson and William Gooding, 
C. E., 1 by Dr. H. M. Bannister,- and by Dr. Edmund Andrews, 3 entered 
the present Des Plaines Valley immediately west of Chicago and passed 
thence down to the Illinois. The effect of this outlet upon the size of 
both the Des Plaines and the Illinois is A T ery marked. The upper por- 
tion of the Des Plaines down to the point where the ancient stream 
entered the valley is a small channel, 20 to 30 feet in depth and scarcely 
one-eighth mile in width, cut into the soft deposits of glacial drift. 
Upon entering the outlet the stream finds a valley more than a mile in 
average width, and cut to a depth of 50 to 100 feet 6r more, the depth 
varying with the altitude of bordering uplands. The excavation is 
mainly in drift, but for a few miles above Joliet it extends 25 feet or 
more into the rock. 

The Illinois flows for a few miles in a low drift basin lying west of 
the Marseilles moraine, in which the ancient stream was expanded into 
a lake which built beaches instead of eroding a channel; but from the 
Marseilles moraine onward a large valley is cut, having an average 
depth of more than 100 feet and a width of about 1 J miles throughout 
the new course above Hennepin and nearly 3 miles in the old part of 
the valley below that town. 

To appreciate how small a part of this excavation on the Illinois is 
due to the present drainage lines, one has only to turn to such tribu- 
taries as Fox and Vermilion rivers and compare the small channels cut 
by them with the large valley of the irpper Illinois, for they are all cut 
to about equal proportions in the drift and in rock formations of simi- 
lar kind. Fox River, which includes about one-fourth of the present 
drainage of the upper Illinois, has in its lower 75 miles a channel with 
about one-eighth the width and one-half the average depth of the upper 
Illinois, and is even better favored than the Illinois in its rate of descent. 
Instead of 25 per cent of the amouut of excavation displayed by the 
Illinois, this stream has accomplished scarcely one-fourth that amount. 
It seems probable that at least three-fourths of the excavation of the 

1 Rept. IX S. Army Engineers, 186S, p. 442. 

'Geology of Illinois, vol. 3, 1868, pp. 240-242. 

3 Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci., vol. 2, 1870, pp. 1-23. 

6137 2 



18 



THE WATER RESOURCES OP ILLINOIS. 



upper Illinois, and even more of the portion of the Des Plaines occupied 
by the lake outlet, was accomplished by that ancient stream. In the 
lower Illinois, where the ancient stream worked entirely upon the loose 
materials of the drift, the excavation was larger in amount, and the 
valley presents a remarkably low gradient — so low that the present 
stream is silting up instead of eroding its bed. The fall of the stream 
in its lower 225 miles is but 30 feet. Whether this very low gradient 
is entirely due to the lake outlet or has been brought about in part 
through a warping of the valley has not been determined. It is cer- 
tain, however, that the valley was opened throughout its entire course 
to a far greater amount than the present streams could have accom- 
plished. No attempt will be made to discuss here the causes for the 
change in the outlet of Lake Michigan, since it involves great compli- 
cations both of glacial retreat and of crust warping, neither of which 
is as yet well understood. 



DRAINAGE BASINS. 

The Mississippi receives probably three-fourths of the drainage of 
Illinois, mainly through the Rock, Illinois, and Kaskaskia rivers. The 
Wabash and Ohio receive nearly all of the remaining fourth, there 
being but a very small part of the State tributary to Lake Michigan. 

ILLINOIS RIVER. 

Of the streams which traverse Illinois, the Illinois is by far the largest, 
its drainage area being fully half as great as the area of the State and 
lying mainly within the State boundaries. The drainage area of the 
Illinois is estimated by Greenleaf, in his report for the Tenth Census, 
to be about 29,000 square miles. The estimate made by the Chicago 
Drainage Commission reduces it to 27,914 square miles. This area is 
distributed in three States, of which the proportion in each State is 
estimated by Greenleaf as follows: Illinois, 24,726 square miles; Wis- 
consin, 1,080 square miles; Indiana, 3,207 square miles. The drainage 
areas of the chief tributaries, given in order from source to mouth, also 
estimated by Greenleaf, are as follows : 

Drainage areas of the chief tributaries of the Illinois River. 



Stream. 


Square 
miles. 


Stream. 


Square 
miles. 


Des Plaines River 

Kankakee River 

Fox River 


a 1, 758 

b 5, 302 

2,697 

1,413 

1,905 


Mackinaw River 

Crooked Creek 

Sangamon River 

Macoupin Creek 


1,182 
1,286 
5, 592 
1,000 


Vermilion River 

Spoon River 



a The Chicago Drainage Commission estimates this area as 1,392 square miles. 
6 Estimated by the Chicago Drainage Commission as about 5,146 square miles. 



leverett] ILLINOIS RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN. 19 

The drainage area or watershed of the Illinois extends in a broad 
band, averaging 100 miles in width, in a northeast-southwest direction 
directly across the center of the State. From the northeastern extrem- 
ity of this band there are two projections — one north into Wisconsin, 
including the Fox and Des Plaines river basins; the other east into 
Indiana, including the Kankakee and its main tributary, the Iroquois. 
The name Illinois is applied to the river from the junction of the Kan- 
kakee and Des Plaines. The western side of the watershed is 20 to 40 
miles in width, while the eastern side is GO to 80 miles. 

The Illinois River is a stream showing marked contrasts in the rate 
of fall. From the junction of the Des Plaines and Kankakee westward 
for 50 miles, being in a new course, its bed is usually on the rock, and 
it has an average fall of about 1 foot per mile; but in the remainder of 
its course to the Mississippi, a distance of about 225 miles, it is in a 
pre-glacial channel and has. as j)reviously stated, a very slight fall. 
This portion of the Illinois is discussed more in detail further on. 

Des Plaines River. — The Des Plaines is a stream with moderate 
descent from its source to a point near the line of Cook and Will 
counties, a few miles southwest of Chicago, where it begins a rapid 
descent. It makes a fall of about 70 feet in 8 miles, when just below 
Joliet it reaches a pool known as Joliet Lake, which continues nearly 
to its mouth. 

Kankakee River. — The Kankakee, for about 90 miles from its source, 
flows through a great marsh and descends scarcely 100 feet; but in the 
lower 50 miles of its course it descends about 135 feet over a rocky bed. 
Notwithstanding this rapid descent, the lower course of the river is not 
subject to disastrous floods, the rise above the ordinary stage being 
seldom more than 5 or G feet. The flow is equalized to some extent by 
the marsh in its upper section and by sand deposits which border the 
lower course and receive much of the surplus water from the tributaries. 

Fox River. — This river has a length of about 330 miles, and drains a 
tract 15 to 3<> miles in width. In the upper half of its course it winds 
about sluggishly through sloughs, marshes, and lakes, in the midst of 
a great system of moraines; in the lower half of its course it is a rapid 
stream. From the vicinity of Elgin to its mouth its bed is usually in 
the rock. The fall in its passage through Kane and Kendall counties 
is about 3 feet per mile, but in Lasalle County it increases to about 5 
feet per mile, making a descent of nearly 125 feet in the lower 25 miles 
of its course. In its upper course tributaries are small and the flow 
is somewhat regular, but in the lower course several tributaries are 
received from a district in which slope and structure favor rapid run- 
off, and these produce the high stages of the river, sometimes reaching 
10 or 15 feet above the normal. 

Illinois- Vermilion River. — Vermilion River has a length of about 75 
miles and drains a till plain perhaps 20 miles in width. This plain 
descends with the stream northwestward, so that for 50 miles scarcely 



20 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

any valley is formed, though, there is a descent of nearly 100 feet. In 
the lower 25 miles the stream corrades rapidly, making a descent of 
about 150 feet and cutting its valley mainly in rock. This stream is 
subject to great variations in water height. It has not the marshy 
gatheriug ground of the tributaries just considered, and the drift 
formations in its basin are mainly of compact till which yields but little 
water in seasons of drought. 

Spoon River. — Spoon Eiver and Crooked Creek, the main western 
tributaries of the Illinois, have valleys cut mainly in drift, but exposing 
rock at many points along the base of the bluffs. They probably fol- 
low approximately lines of pre-glacial drainage throughout much of 
their courses, but are not strictly coincident with such lines. The rate 
of fall is more regular than in the tributaries just described. Spoon 
Eiver in the lower 80 miles of its course, south from Stark County, 
descends from 2 to 3 feet per mile. Crooked Creek is nearly as regular 
in the lower 50 miles of its course, though more rapid. In the head- 
water portions of both streams the descent is more rapid than in the 
lower courses, thus reversing the habit of the upper tributaries of 
the Illinois. Both streams are subject to great variations in water 
stages because of rapid run-off. The rapidity of run-off is due to rapid 
fall and the generally well-drained surface. In seasons of drought 
springs along the valleys and main tributaries afford a considerable 
supply of the water. 

Mackinaw River.— This river drains a somewhat elevated plain in 
northern McLean County, standing 300 to 350 feet above the Illinois. 
In its middle course in Tazewell County it breaks through a moraine, 
and there only has it excavated a valley of much depth. In the lower 
20 miles it winds about in the Illinois Valley in a shallow channel, mak- 
ing a descent of about 75 feet. This stream is one of the most variable 
in the State in quantity of water, being subject to great floods in wet 
seasons and becoming nearly dry in seasons of drought. The variability 
is due to several causes — rapid fall, compact drift beds, and absence 
of head-water marshes being the principal ones. 

Sangamon River. — Extensive plains in central Illinois are somewhat 
inadequately drained by the Sangamon Eiver, whose tributaries do not 
ramify as thoroughly as is necessary for good drainage, and the area 
given as its catchment basin represents not that actually drained, but 
that which may, by extensive ditching, be drained into it. 

The length of the river is about 180 miles. It rises in the morainic 
ridges of McLean County, at an altitude of about 850 feet above tide, 
or over 400 feet above its mouth (the mouth being 429 feet). In the 
first 10 miles it makes a descent of 120 feet, thus leaving 300 feet of 
fall for the remaining 170 miles of its course. The fall is far from 
regular, there being sections often several miles in length in which 
it is slight, between which are sections with more rapid fall. Thus in 
its course through Sangamon County, a distance of 36 miles, it falls 



leverett] ROCK RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN. 21 

only 38 feet, while in crossing Menard County, immediately below, it 
falls 67 feet in a distance of 30 miles, and in crossing Macon County, 
just above Sangamon, it falls 50 feet in about 30 miles. In the lower 
23 miles, where it crosses the Illinois bottoms, its fall is only 1G feet. 

This river in seasons of drought reaches a very low stage, becoming 
almost dry. The till plain which it drains yields very little water to 
the streams except immediately after rains have fallen. Freshets now 
seldom last more than a few days, and are said to be much briefer than 
before the district was brought under cultivation. 

2[<icouphi Creel;. — Macoupin Creek, Apple Creek, and other small 
tributaries of the lower Illinois show a rapid descent, their head waters 
being nearly 300 feet above the Illinois. They traverse a district in 
whk-h drainage lines ramify through nearly every section. The drift 
being largely a compact till, rainfall is absorbed slowly. These streams 
therefore carry off a large amount of water, but in dry seasons they 
almost cease flowing. 

ROCK RIVER. 

Rock River, which drains much of northwestern Illinois, has a length 
of nearly 300 miles, its general course being southwest from southern 
Wisconsin across northwestern Illinois. Nearly one-half its length is 
in Wisconsin. The drainage basin has an area of about 11,000 square 
miles, of which slightly more than one-half is situated in Wisconsin. 
The greatest width is near the State line, where it is about 80 miles. 
The Wisconsin portion averages 40 or 50 miles, but in Illinois the basin 
suddenly narrows to 40 miles, and then to 25 miles. It is mainly a 
prairie region, though bodies of timber of considerable size are found 
within its limits. Above Janesville, Wis., where it leaves the Kettle 
moraine of the Green Bay lobe, the basin is characterized by extensive 
swamps and numerous small lakes which feed it in dry seasons. The 
Illinois portion is mainly undulating and well drained, though exten- 
sive swamps occur along Green River, an eastern tributary. From the 
Kettle moraine southward to the mouth of the Kishwaukee the river 
occupies an old valley, but above and below these points it follows new 
lines because of the filling of the old valley with glacial drift. The 
river derives its name from the rock ledges which it crosses in the new 
portions of its course, not only in the upper section but in the lower, as 
at Sterling, 111., where there are rapids with a fall of about 15 feet in a 
distance of 2 miles. 

The altitude of the stream at its source is about 875 feet and at its 
mouth 53G feet. The most rapid section, aside from short rapids, such 
as those at Sterling, is in southern Wisconsin, from the mouth of the 
Catfish to the mouth of the Peeatonica, where, for a distance of 30 
miles, the average slope is nearly 2 feet per mile. This slight increase 
of slope is attributable to the greater accumulation of drift deposits in 
the northern end of the section than in the southern, the northern 



22 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

being in the vicinity of the Kettle moraine, which poured its gravel into 
the old valley to the south and caused a gradually decreasing amount 
of filling in passing from the moraine southward. 

Rock River has three principal tributaries entering within the State 
of Illinois — the Pecatonica, the Kishwaukee, and the Green. The 
drainage area of the Pecatonica lies mainly within the State of Wis- 
consin. This stream is in a region which is well drained, and in con- 
sequence is fed but little during seasons of drought by swamps or 
lakes. The Kishwaukee River heads in an elevated morainic district 
and falls rapidly throughout its course, but as it is bordered by exten- 
sive deposits of gravel connected with marshes its flow is somewhat 
regular. Green River, also, is in a region bordered by swamps and 
gravelly deposits, which keep its flow somewhat regular. 

The small tributaries in the Illinois portion of the drainage basin are, 
in the main, streams with rapid fall, and are usually free from swamps 
or deposits which will hold water. As a consequence they often become 
dry throughout portions of the year. 

In Wisconsin the small tributaries are usually bordered by swamps, 
and contribute a somewhat regular flow to the river. 

TRIBUTARIES OP THE MISSISSIPPI IN WESTERN ILLINOIS. 

Both above and below the mouth of Rock River several small rivers 
enter the Mississippi, the principal streams above being Fever, Apple, 
and Plum rivers, and those below, Edwards and Henderson rivers and 
Bear Creek. 

The first-mentioned group lie mainly in the driftless region, and have 
a very rapid but generally well- graduated descent. The rapid fall 
promotes, a speedy escape of surface water; but, bordered as they are 
by limestone ledges from which springs issue, the stream beds seldom 
become dry. 

The tributaries south of the mouth of Rock River drain till plains 
which stand only 200 to 300 feet above the Mississippi. Edwards River, 
draining parts of Henry and Mercer counties, with a length of nearly 
60 miles, has a regular descent and an average fall of about 5 feet per 
mile. Its tributaries are small and it is seldom subject to freshets. 
Springs from the drift prevent the stream from becoming as low in 
seasons of drought as many streams of this size in central Illinois. 
Henderson River, draining much of northern Henderson, northern 
Warren, and part of Knox counties, is a more widely branching stream 
and subject to greater variations in volume than Edwards, though 
draining about the same amount of territory (450 to 500 square miles). 
With a length of nearly 50 miles, it makes a somewhat regular descent 
of 7 to 8 feet per mile to within 15 miles of its mouth, where it enters the 
Mississippi bottoms and thence falls but little. Bear Creek, draining 
western Hancock and northern Adams counties, is a widely branching 



levekett] KASKASKIA AND OTHEK STREAMS. 23 

stream, subject to high freshets and very low stages. At times it 
almost ceases flowing, though it drains an area of about 500 square 
miles. 

KASKASKIA RIVER. 

The Kaskaskia, or Okaw, is the principal river traversing southern 
Illinois. With a length of 180 miles, it drains nearly 6,000 square 
miles. Its source is in a moraine near Champaign, at an altitude of 
about 730 feet above tide. Its descent is gradual, even in the head- 
water portions, there being a fall of only 110 feet in the first 50 miles 
of its course. Its most rapid section is in its course through Moultrie 
County, where it makes a descent of 55 feet in about 18 miles, or 3 feet 
per mile. In places there are pools several miles in length, the most 
conspicuous of these being found in St. Clair County, where in a dis- 
tance of over 20 miles the fall is scarcely 10 feet. 

The stream is subject to great variations in volume, as it drains a 
region in which the substrata are of compact clay, which promotes a 
rapid run-off and furnishes but little water in seasons of drought. A 
rise of 20 feet in its lower course is not rare, and its flood plain has 
been built nearly to that height above the stream bed. 

BIG MUDDY RIVER. 

The only remaining important tributary of the Mississippi is the Big 
Muddy, a stream draining about 2,400 square miles in the low district 
lying north of the Ozark Eidge. It is a stream of comparatively low 
rate of fall, yet it is subject to freshets with a rise of 25 feet or more. 
Greeuleaf reports the rise at Murphysboro to be 30 feet. In dry sea- 
sons it almost ceases flowing. Its great fluctuations, like those of the 
Kaskaskia, are largely due to the compact clays which underlie the 
region and prevent absorption of the rainfall. 

TRIBUTARIES OF THE WABASH. 

There are several tributaries of the Wabash, viz, Little Wabash, Bon 
Pas, and Embarras rivers, which, like the Big Muddy and Kaskaskia, 
have low rates of descent and yet are subject to great variations in 
volume, largely because of the compact clay of the region which they 
drain. The head-water portion of the Embarras, however, north from 
Cumberland County, drains a district with looser substrata. The Big 
and Little Vermilion rivers also drain districts in which the substrata 
are pervious, and in consequence they present a more uniform stream 
than the tributaries farther south. Big Vermilion, however, because 
of a very rapid descent in its lower course and the widely branching 
head waters, is subject to great freshets. 



OHAPTEE II. 
THE RAI3STFALX,. 

In its rainfall the State of Illinois is, on the whole, well adapted for 
profitable agriculture. It is rare that any part of the State is subjected 
to a complete loss of any of its crops, either by drowning or by drought. 
The rainfall throughout the entire State, however, is subject to marked 
variations from year to year. 

Eecords of rainfall are obtainable at a few points in Illinois and on 
its borders for a period of forty-five years, and at many points for 
fifteen to twenty years or more. From these records Mr. Harrington, 
formerly of the United States "Weather Bureau, has estimated the 
average precipitation to be about 38 inches. 1 

The precipitation frequently amounts to several inches more than the 
normal, and there have been two years in which it exceeded 50 inches; 
it also frequently falls several inches below the normal, and occasion- 
ally is less than 30 inches. There is, therefore, in very wet years nearly 
twice as much rainfall in the State as in years of extreme drought. If 
single stations are considered, the wet years frequently show more than 
twice the precipitation of very dry years. While rainfall records are 
valuable in showing the average conditions, they are seldom sufficiently 
complete to indicate the probable effect upon crop production. Even 
records of daily rainfall are imperfect, since they seldom, show the rate 
of downpour or the condition of the soil at the time of the rainfall, 
and these are factors of great importance in determining the efficiency 
of the rainfall in the production of crops. An inch of rain coming 
gently, when the soil is in condition to absorb it, may have a greater 
efficiency than several inches of downpour on a soil already saturated. 

The tables below set forth as fully as may be in compact form the 
main results of rainfall records in Illinois and border districts. The 
first table shows the annual and seasonal averages for Illinois and 
neighboring States, compiled from Mr. Harrington's results in the 
bulletin on rainfall and snow. From this table it appears that Illi- 
nois is among the most favored of this group of States in the fall of 
rain during the portion of the year when it is needed for crops, 80 
per cent of its comparatively large rainfall being in the spring, summer, 
and autumn months. As the ground is usually frozen throughout the 
greater part of the State in the winter months, precipitation, unless 
in the form of snow, is of little value. A blanket of snow often proves 

'Rainfall and snow of the United States, compiled to 1891, by Mark W. Harrington: TJ. S. Dept. of 
Agriculture, Weather Bureau Bull. C, 1894, p. 56. 
24 



LEVERETT.] 



THE EAINFALL. 



25 



of great service in protecting winter wheat and grass lands, and in 
this respect Illinois is abont as well favored as any of these States, 
and usually better favored than neighboring States to the west. 

Table of annual and seasonal rainfall averages for Illinois and neighboring States. 



State. 



Area. 



Spring. : Summer. 



Autumn, 



Winter. | Annual. 



Cubic 
miles. 



Illinois .. 
Missouri . 

Iowa 

Minnesota 
"Wisconsin 
Michigan 
Indiana .. 

Ohio 

Kentucky 



Miles. 
56, 650 
69, 415 
56, 025 
83, 365 
56, 040 
58, 915 
36, 350 
41, 060 
40, 400 



Inches. 

10.2 

10.0 

8.3 

6.5 

7.8 

7.9 

11.0 

10.0 

12.4 



Inches. 
11.2 
12.4 
12.4 
10.8 
11.6 
9.7 
11.7 
11.9 
12.5 



Inches. 
9.0 
9.1 
8.1 
5.8 
7.8 
9.2 
9.7 
9.0 
9.7 



Inches. 

7.7 
6.5 
4.1 
3.1 
5.2 
7.0 

10.3 
9.1 

11.8 



Indies. 
38.1 
38.0 
32.9 
26.2 
32.5 
33.8 
42.7 
40.0 
46.4 



34.0 
41.2 
28.8 
34.4 
28.7 
31.3 
24.2 
25.7 
29.3 



The. following table of yearly variations in rainfall has been com- 
piled from Mr. Harrington's rainfall bulletin for the years 1851-1891, 
from the report of the Chief of the United States Weather Bureau 
for 1S92 and 1893, and from the official bulletin of the Illinois State 
Weather Service for 1894 and 1895. 1 With the stations in Illinois have 
been included those on the immediate border in adjoining States. 
These are of value, for in the earlier years there were but lew sta- 
tions at which rainfall was recorded. 

Table shoiving yearly variations in rainfall of Illinois. 



Tear. 



1851. 
1852. 
1853. 
1854. 
1855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 
1860. 
1861. 
1862. 



Number 
of sta- 
tions. 



O 

5 

4 

6 

6 

9 

9 

13 

11 

8 

13 

13 



Average. 



Inches. 
54.1 
47.8 
38.9 
34.1 
41.7 
32.7 
34.1 
51.1 
37.3 
33.9 
39.0 
46.7 



Bange. 



Inches. 
45. 4-74. 5 
38. 4-59. 4 
30. 9h15. 2 
23. 6-46. 3 
29. 1-50. 5 
23. 3-43. 9 
27. 5-39. 8 
45. 2-68. 8 
26. 5-61. 3 
25. 2-56. 2 
30. 0-68. 6 
34. 9-70. 4 



1 Weather and Crops, by C. E. Linney, director Illinois State Weather Service, Chicago. 



26 



THE WATER EESOUECES OP ILLINOIS. 

Table shoiving yearly variations in rainfall of Illinois — Continued. 



Tear. 



1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 
1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 



Number 
of sta- 
tions. 


Average. 




Inches. 


11 


33. 5 


15 


31.4 


16 
17 
19 
19 


40.0 
36.9 
30.2 
38.0 


20 
21 

18 


41.8 
30.0 
32.3 


19 


31.8 


18 


38.3 


20 
20 


33.2 

40.5 


22 


45.3 


20 


41.9 


20 


37.9 


20 


32.0 


24 


39.5 


22 


41.8 


24 


43.8 


27 


44.1 


25 


42.1 


27 


39.5 


33 


34.0 


33 


32.2 


33 


37.3 


34 


34.7 


34 


38.3 


32 


33.0 


49 


41.4 


53 


34.1 


75 


29.3 


97 


31.9 



Inches. 

25. 6-50. 4 
24. 0-38. 3 
24. 5-51. 8 
30. 2-45. 3 
22. 4-40. 2 
25. 9-45. 6 
30. 4-51. 5 
20. 3-41. 3 

22. 6-40. 8 
24. 8-39. 5 

19. 7-54.-5 

23. 8-47. 5 

26. 9-59. 5 
34. 5-62. 6 
33. 3-54. 9 
31. 2-45. 6 
21. 5-52. 3 
30. 6-53. 2 
32. 7-56. 4 
33. 0-70. 8 
33. 7-61. 5 
32. 8-66. 6 
32. 1-50. 1 
18. 9-50. 6 
16. 1-38. 3 
26. 0-62. 9 

24. 4-42. 8 
23. 5-49. 8 ' 
25.9-45.1 
31. 1-63. 3 

20. 3-48. 8 
18. 2-40. 4 
19. 7-46. 4 



The average rainfall shown in the above table is slightly lower than 
that given by the United States Weather Bureau, being 37.85 inches 
instead of 38.10. This is due to the exceptionally low rainfall of 
1893-1895, which was not included in the estimate by Mr. Harrington. 
The average of the above table to the close of 1891 is 38.21 inches. 

Of the forty-five years' record, it will be observed that twenty-two 
years are above and twenty- three years below the average (37.85 inches) 



leverett.] THE EAINFALL. 27 

rainfall. The period of most remarkable precipitation is that of 1875- 
1885, inclusive. But one year was below the normal, and the average for 
the period of eleven years is 40.76 inches, or nearly 3 inches above the 
normal. The succeeding ten years have been marked by equally great 
deficiency. Only one year has been much above the normal, while 
seven have been much below, and the average is but 34.(12 inches, or 
more than 3 inches below the normal. This period of drought is gen- 
erally considered the most severe in its effects since the settlement of 
the State. It has resulted the past two years (1894-95) in a failure 
of wells and drying up of brooks and springs to an extent not known 
before. It has not, however, been remarkably disastrous to crops, 
since the little rainfall which occurred was adjusted to their needs. 
Just before the eleven-year peri<*l of great rainfall there was a period of 
twelve years (1863-1874, inclusive) marked by a deficiency in rainfall. 
Only two years were much above the normal, while seven years were 
much below it, and three were near the normal. The average precipi- 
tation for the twelve years is 35 inches, or nearly 3 inches below the 
normal. In the twelve years which preceded (1S51-1862, inclusive) the 
few records given show an average of nearly 41 inches. Of these 
there are five years much above the normal, three years near the nor- 
mal, and four years much below the normal. It is therefore not so 
strikingly a wet period as that of 1875-1885, when nearly every year was 
above the normal. The high average is due to the remarkably great 
precipitation in the wet years. Reviewing the above observations, the 
records suggest that there may be an alternation of wet aud dry periods 
with a length of eleven to twelve years. They cover too brief a space, 
however, to warrant generalizations of much value. 

In this connection it maybe remarked that the reports of the United 
States Weather Bureau and the records of the State Weather Service 
show an apparent periodicity in several other of the North Central 
States. In Wisconsin, from 1803 to 1S74 the average rainfall was but 
30.22 inches, and only one year (1S70) showed a precipitation greater 
than the normal. In 1875 to 1885 the average rainfall was 37.66 inches, 
and in none of these years was the rainfall so low as the normal (32.5 
inches). In 1886 to 1895 the average rainfall was only 30.43 inches, 
and in only two years of the ten was the rainfall above the normal. 
The wet aud dry periods stand out less clearly in Iowa than in Wiscon- 
sin and Illinois, but this is largely due to the enlargement of territory 
over which observations are made in the later periods. Down to 1875 
the Iowa observations were mainly in the eastern part of the State, 
where rainfall is heaviest, while from 1875 onward the observations 
extend over the less humid western portion. From 1851 to 1862 the 
rainfall in eastern Iowa was slightly above 40 inches, while from 1863 
to 1874 it was about 35 inches. The rainfall of the entire State from 
1S75 to 1885 was about 36 inches, while from 1886 to 1895 it was only 
28.97 inches. The normal for the entire State in twenty years (from 



28 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

1875 to 1895) is 32.58 inches. In the period from 1875 to 1885 the rain- 
fall in but one year (1879) was markedly below the normal, while, in the 
period from 18S5 to 1894 it was but one year (1892) markedly above the 
normal, though slightly above in one other year (1S88). 

An examination of the records in Missouri affords little evidence of 
the periodic variation. Of the States to the north and west of Iowa, 
Nebraska and South Dakota present, in the last twenty years, a dis- 
tribution of precipitation above and below normal similar to that shown 
in the three States just considered, but North Dakota and Minnesota 
do not show such a distribution, at least not in so marked a degree. 
In Nebraska the observations prior to 1875 are mainly in the eastern 
part of the State, and accordingly do not indicate so low a rainfall as 
would be expected were the more arid Western portion included. This 
eastern portion, however, shows an average rainfall of only about 24 
inches from 1868 to 1874, while the records for 1875 to 1885, from a 
much wider area, show an average rainfall of 28 inches. This was 
followed by a period of less rainfall, the average for the j^ears 1886 to 
1895 being but 22.34 inches. The normal rainfall for Nebraska is about 
25 inches. The rainfall was not markedly below this amount in any 
year between 1875 and 1885, while in the period from 1886 to 1895 it 
rose above the normal in but one year (1891). In South Dakota the 
records prior to 1875 are mainly from the southeast portion, which is 
the most humid, and yet the records from 1869 to 1874 show an average 
yearly rainfall of but 18.55 inches. From 1875 to 1885 the average was 
about 25 inches, and throughout much of this period the entire State 
was fairly well represented by stations. In the period from 1886 to 
1895 the average yearly rainfall has been barely 20 inches. In but one 
year (1S92) did it rise to the average rainfall of the preceding decade. 

These observations are certainly suggestive of periodic variations in 
rainfall, covering as they do an area of several States. It will be a 
matter of importance to note, as time goes on, whether the teaching of 
the weather records sustains periodicity. If definite alternate wet and 
dry periods occur, the agriculture can be adjusted to the conditions and 
shortage of crops of certain kinds be foreseen. 

Since making the above estimates from the rainfall records, I have 
found the following allusion to eleven-year cycles in Davis's Meteor- 
ology : 

It is true that slight fluctuations of rainfall and temperature in nearly eleven 
years, corresponding to the sun-spot cycle, have heen made out at certain stations 
for a moderate number of periods; but the fluctuations have not yet been shown to 
be genera], uniform, and persistent. A longer variation is indicated over Europe 
and in certain other countries in a period of thirty-six or thirty-seven years, as 
shown by Bruckner's review of all available records of dry and wet years, high and 
low stages in rivers, abundant and scanty crops, etc. ; but at least another century 
will be needed fully to confirm this result and to extend it over the world. 1 

•Elementary Meteorology, by William Morris Davis, 1894, p. 346. 



LEVERETT.] 



THE RAINFALL. 



29 



It is deficiency rather than excess of rainfall which injures the crops, 
even in Illinois, the most humid of the States in the group just dis- 
cussed. A deficiency of rainfall has never been so serious in Illinois 
as to cause complete failure of any crop over a great part of the State, 
such as the less humid States to the west and northwest have experi- 
enced. Its greatest danger lies in a deficiency between June and 
September, there being many years when the corn and other crops 
which ripen in autumn are shortened by drought at that season. It 
is often the case that heavy rains and low temperature from April 
to June keep the ground cold and damp. Then a reversal of con- 
ditions suddenly occurs and the ground becomes baked by the hot, 
dry atmosphere and blazing sun. Much of central and southern Illi- 
nois, where the flat surface prevents ready escape, or the nearly 
impervious subsoil prevents ready absorption of the rainfall, is sub- 
jected to this baking process, and the fertility of the soil is greatly 
checked thereby. 

In the following table the range in rainfall is shown at each of the 
stations in Illinois and on its borders where observations have been 
kept for periods of several years: 



Table showing range in rainfall at the principal stations. 



Station. 


Tears of 
record. 


Lowest. 


Highest. 


Range. 


Inches. 


Tear. 


Inches. 


Tear. 


Anna 


1876-86 

1857-80 


37.6 
25.5 


1881 
1879 


55.3 
54.0 


1876 
1862 


17.7 
28.5 


Augusta 


Aurora 


1866-95 
1851-58 


30.3 

25.2 


1866 
1856 


47.9 

47.3 


1892 
1858 


17.6 
22.1 


Athens — 


Cairo 


1872-95 


26.6 


1872 


61.5 


1882 


34.9 


Centralia 


1880-91 


35.5 


1881 


59.8 


1883 


24.3 


Chicago 


1867-95 


22.4 


1867 


45.8 


1883 


23.4 


Collinsville 


1883-91 


31.1 


1891 


44.8 


1888 


13.7 


Dubois 


1864-73 


26.0 


1871 


52.7 


1873 


36.7 




1866-82 
1874-87 


24.4 
23.0 


1867 
' 1886 


42.3 
42.6 


1869 

1877 


17.9 
19.0 


Geneseo 


Golconda a 


1879-95 
1886-90 

1882-95 


33.7 
28.9 
25.9 


1887 
1887 
1891 


70.8 
48.5 
50.5 


1882 
1890 
1894 


37.1 
19.6 
24.6 


Grand Tower 


Griggsville 




1862-71 


23.1 


1870 


42.9 


1862 


19.8 


Greenville 


1883-95 
1871-77 
1871-78 


33.5 
30.4 
26.0 


1891 
1874 
1874 


66.6 
45.6 
37.3 


1894 
1876 
1876 


33.1 

15.2 
11.3 


Havana 


Hennepin 





a By including earlier observations a rainfall of but 30.4 inches is found at Golconda in 1868 and 
30.7 inches in 1869, thus increasing the range to iOA inches. 



30 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

Table showing range in rainfall at the principal stations — Continued. 



Station. 


Years of 
record. 


Lowest. 


Highest. 


Range. 


Inches. 


Year. 


Inches. 


Year. 




1886-91 
1870-80 
1882-95 
1856-72 
1880-95 
1886-95 
1851-91 
1870-80 
1880-95 
1856-95 
1883-95 
1883-93 
1886-95 
1856-95 
1886-91 
1874-95 
1867-91 
1860-91 
1880-95 
1882-95 
1858-95 
1886-90 
1866-75 
1854-83 
1861-95 
1851-94 
1856-95 
1872-95 
1878-94 
1851-95 
1861-88 


31.6 
33.7 
30.0 
26.1 
24.2 
35.7 
24.0 
21.7 
27.4 
23.6 
35.3 
35.2 
28.9 
23.6 
16.1 
23.8 
19.7 
25.9 
25.2 
25.3 
26.5 
29.4 
27.9 
23.3 
18.3 
23.6 
22.2 
22.5 
21.5 
22.6 
20.3 


1891 
1872 
1887 
1871 
1895 
1887 
1864 
1879 
1888 
1887 
1887 
1884 
1891 
1870 
1888 
1874 
1873 
1868 
1887 
1889 
1859 
1888 
1867 
1856 
1894 
1854 
1879 
1879 
1879 
1871 
1870 


42.8 
62.6 
56.4 
49.4 
52.9 
59.3 
56.9 
50.7 
43.1 
55.7 
54.1 
63.3 
41.4 
53.4 
30.3 
47.5 
43.8 
70.4 
58.2 
51.0 
45.2 
37.0 
51.5 
48.9 
55.4 
74.5 
52.3 
51.5 
41.1 
68.8 
46.4 


1888 
1876 
1883 
1858 
1872 
1894 
1851 
1876 
1894 
1862 
1883 
1892 
1895 
1862 
1891 
1884 
1869 
1862 
1883 
1883 
1858 
1890 
1869 
1880 
1881 
1851 
1852 
1876 
1884 
1858 
1881 


11.2 
28.9 
26.4 
23.3 
28.7 
24.6 
32.9 
29.0 
15.7 
32.1 
18.8 
28.1 
12.5 
29.8 
14.2 
23.7 
24.1 
44.5 
33.0 
25.7 
19.7 
7.6 
23.6 
25.6 
37.1 
50.9 
30.1 
29.0 
19.6 
46.2 
26.1 


Louisville 

McLeansboro 

Manchester 

Mattoon 


Mount Carmel 


Marengo 


Mount Sterling 


Oswego 


Ottawa 


Palestine 


Pana 


Philo 


Peoria 


Pontiac 


Rockford 


Rock Island 


Sandwich 


Springfield.. 


Sycamore 


Winnebago 


Watseka 


Wyanet 


New Harmony, Ind 


Muscatine, Iowa 

Fort Madison, Iowa 

Keokuk, Iowa 


Louisiana, Mo 


St. Louis, Mo 


Beloit, Wis 



From the above table it appears that 6 of the stations sIioav a range 
of over 3 feet in amount of yearly rainfall, Avhile 27 of the 49 stations 
show over 2 feet variation, and the few stations in which there are 
variations of less than 1 foot are among those which have kept records 
for only a few years. Of the 24 stations which have kept records for 
more than fifteen years none show a variation of less than 15 inches. 
An examination of the dates of highest and lowest rainfall at the dif- 
ferent stations shows that they do not correspond in any marked 



levekett.i T HE EAINFALL. 31 

degree to the dates of high and low rainfall for the entire State. At 
the majority of stations the extremes in precipitation mark simply 
local excess or deficiency, and they serve to indicate the great influ- 
ence of such local conditions. As already remarked, so much depends 
upon several poorly known conditions, such as the rate at which the 
rain descends, the power of the winds to absorb moisture, and the con- 
dition of the soil at the time of a rainfall, that even tables of daily 
rainfall may convey wrong or inadequate conceptions as to excess or 
deficiency of precipitation. Much more is this the case where monthly, 
seasonal, or annual averages are consulted. 

It may be said that in general in Illinois a rainfall below 25 inches 
results unfavorably to crops, but it not rarely occurs that average 
crops have been grown where there has been for a single year a rain- 
fall slightly below that amount, and where, even for a succession of 
years, it has been but little above. If, therefore, it is found, as in the 
above table, that at nearly half the stations the rainfall has been as 
low as 24 inches, it should not be inferred that the deficiency resulted 
in serious damage to crops. Often a year with 30 inches or more of 
rainfall at a given station has a more prolonged and serious drought 
in the growing season than one with but 24 inches. Judging from the 
experience in more arid districts to the west of Illinois, a rainfall of 
but 20 inches in a year, if well adjusted to the needs of crops, may be 
sufficient to made a region productive. 

It may not be safe, however, to assume that a humid region can be 
reduced suddenly to a rainfall so low as that which will supply an arid 
region with a sufficient amount of moisture for the growth of cereals. 
Investigations by Prof. Milton Whitney, of the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, have shown that w r liere the subsoil is dry, as in 
the arid region of western United States', the rainfall is less liable 
to be drawn down into the earth to a depth beyond the use of plants 
than it is where a moist subsoil occurs. Concerning this matter Pro- 
fessor Whitney remarks: 

There is one factor which has a very important hearing upon the conditions in the 
humid as compared with those in the arid regions. Iu the humid regions of the 
Eastern States the soil is continuously moist from the surface down to a depth at 
which it is completely saturated and from which water is constantly flowing out 
into wells, streams, and rivers. The water descends through the soil hoth by virtue 
of its own weight and by capillary force. According to capillary laws the water 
is pulled downward when the subsoil contains less water than the soil. Gravity 
and capillary force are both more effective in moving water through a moist subsoil 
than a dry one; hence there is danger in the East of the water being pulled down 
below the reach of plants in time of drought, while in the West, where the subsoil 
at the depth of a few feet is continuously dry, this could not happen. 1 

In the three following tables are set forth the details of precipitation 

1 Yearbook of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1894, p. 156. 



32 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



at a few points representative of the State of Illinois, extracted from 
the reports of the Weather Bnreaa: 

liable of rainfall, by months, in percentages. 



Station. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


Cairo, 111., July, 1871, to Dec, 1891.... 
St. Louis, Mo., Nov., 1870, to Dec, 1891. 
Springfield, 111., July, 1879, to Dec, 1891. 
Keokuk, Iowa, Aug., 1871, to Dec, 1891. 
Peoria, 111., a 18 years 


9.4 
6.3 
5.9 
4.8 
4.7 
6.2 
6.9 
5.3 
6.4 


9.4 
8.3 
9.3 
4.8 
5.9 
6.5 
6.1 
4.7 
5.5 


8.9 

7.9 
6.7 
6.0 
6.8 
7.0 
6.9 
6.5 
6.7 


8.7 
8.7 
7.8 
8.3 
8.8 
8.8 
8.3 
8.0 
6.1 


8.7 
10.5 
12.9 
11.4 
10.1 
10.2 

9.0 
12.4 

9.8 


10.3 
13.4 
13.2 
14.0 
12.7 
10.2 
12.0 
12.4 
12.0 


Chicago, 111., Nov., 1870, to Dec, 1891. .. 
Rock ford, 111., a 15 years 


Davenport, Iowa, Apr., 1872, to Dec, 1891. 
Dubuque, Iowa,Aug., 1873, to Dec, 1891. 

Averages 


6.2 


6.7 


7.0 


8.2 


10.5 


12.2 






July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Cairo, 111., July, 1871, to Dec, 1891 

St. Louis, Mo., Nov., 1870, to Dec, 1891 . . 
Springfield, 111., July, 1879, to Dec, 1891. 
Keokuk, Iowa, Aug., 1871, to Dec, 1891. . 
Peoria, 111., a 18 years 


8.2 
8.9 
6.4 
12.0 
10.2 
10.4 
10.73 
10.6 
11.7 


6.6 
6.8 
6.4 
8.8 
8.3 

10.0 
9.6 

11.2 
9.8 


5.7 

8.4 

8.5 

10.0 

10.2 

7.9 

8.0 

9.4 

12.3 


6.4 
6.8 
8.5 
8.8 
9.2 
9.0 
9.7 
8.9 
8.7 


10.0 
7.9 
8.0 
5.7 
6.4 
7.6 
6.2 
5.9 
6.1 


7.7 
6.1 
6.4 
5.4 
6.3 
6.2 
6.0 
4.7 
4.9 


Chicago, 111., Nov., 1870, to Dec, 1891 
Rockford, 111., a 15 years 


Davenport, Iowa.Apr., 1872, to Dec. ,1891. 
Dubuque, Iowa, Aug., 1873, to Dec, 1891. 

Averages 


9.9 


8.6 


9.0 


8.5 


7.1 


6.0 





a Taken from charts by Capt. H. H. C. Dunwoody, Signal Office, "Washington, 1889. 



Table of greatest consecutive number of days ivith rain. 



Station. 


3 
H3 


3 

ID 
ft 






£ 
H 


a 



1-3 




to 

3 

< 


CD 

1 
ft 


u 
a 
,a 

o 
o 
O 


U 
CD 

a 

ED 

> 

a 


© 

1 

O 
CD 

A 


Cairo, 111., a July, 1871, to 
Dec, 1891 


7 
8 
8 


11 
11 

10 


7 
6 

7 


7 
7 
8 


8 

7 
9 


13 
9 

7 


7 
7 
7 


6 
8 
9 


8 
5 
5 


6 

7 
7 


7 
7 
6 


10 
10 

7 


St. Louis, Mo., Nov., 1870, 
to Dec, 1891 


Springfield, 111., July, 1879, 
to Dec, 1891 





a In September and October, 1891, 13 consecutive days of rainfall. 



leverett.] THE KAINFALL. 33 

Table of greatest consecutive number of days witli rain — Continued. 



Siai ion. 


5 

= 

5 

>-5 


u 

- 




- 


< 

6 
9 
6 
6 


6 

10 
9 
9 


= 

7 
10 
11 
11 


7 
7 
7 
6 


— 
= 

4 

8 

10 

9 

9 


ij 

2 

- 

6 
9 

7 

7 


- 
- 

a 
O 

7 
8 
8 
7 


9 

> 

6 

12 
6 
5 


- 
- 
— 
S 

© 
U 

a 

8 
8 
8 
6 


Keokuk, Iowa, a Aug., 1871, 
to Dec, 1891. 


7 
7 
7 
9 


8 
12 

8 
8 


7 

12 

8 

6 


Chicago, 111., b Nov., 1870, 
to Dec. 1891 


Davenport, Iowa, Apr., 1872, 
to Dec, 1891 


Dubuque, Iowa, Aug., 1873, 
to Dec, 1891 





(tin July and August, 18S2, 11 consecutive days of rainfall. 
b In July and August, 1880, 17 consecutive days of rainfall. 

Table of greatest consecutive number of days without rain. 



Station. 



Cairo, 111., a July, 1871, to 

Dec, 1891 

St. Louis, Mo., b Nov., 1870, 

to Dec, 1891 

Springfield, 111., July, 1879, 

to Dec. .1891 

Keokuk, Iowa, c Aug., 1871, 

to Dec, 1891 

Chicago, 111., Nov., 1870, to 

Dec, 1891 

Davenport, Iowa, d April, 

1872, to Dec, 1891 

Dubuque, Iowa, e Aug., 1873, 

to Dec, 1891 



u 

a 
c 


>> 

u 

a 
s 

.a 


10 


9 


12 


12 


7 


8 


11 


15 


12 


21 


10 


16 


14 


21 



I 



15 12 13 

9 13 11 



13 16 
13 14 



10 



12 



12 



10 



10 12 
16 10 



16 16 



15 19 

13 16 

14 15 



11 



11 



15 13 
14 14 



a The longest period without rain is 28 days, in September and October, 1891. 
b The longest period without rain is 2S days, in June and July, 1871. 
c The longest period without rain is 26 days, in October and November, 1879. 
rf The longest period without rain is 21 days, in August and September. 1888. 
e The longest period without rain is 26 days, in September and October. 1888. 

In the table of rainfall by months it will be noted that there is a 
decrease in amount of precipitation in the winter months in passing 
from south to north. This difference in winter precipitation gives the 
southern end of the State more rainfall than the central and northern 
portions, there being very little difference in the amount of rainfall 
6137 3 



34 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

throughout the State in the spring, summer, and autumn months. The 
month of Juue has generally, throughout the State, a larger amount 
of rainfall than any other month. The precipitation in July and 
August, though averaging nearly as much as that of the spriug and 
autumn months, is subject to great variations, there beiug in some 
years but a fraction of an inch in one or the other of these months, 
while in other years each month may have several inches of rainfall. 
The rain in these months is also very liable to be in the form of local 
showers, by which small areas may become well watered though in the 
midst of a drought-stricken district. The tables indicate that precipi- 
tation is greater during these months in the northern than in the cen- 
tral and southern parts of the State, and it is quite generally true that 
the northern portion suffers far less from the summer drought than the 
central and southern portions. This should perhaps be attributed 
only in part to the difference in precipitation, for the northern portion 
has a soil better adapted to withstand drought than has much of the 
remainder of the State, as is shown further on. Evaporation would 
also naturally be less rapid in the northern than in the southern part 
because of the higher latitude. 

The tables of consecutive days with and without rain serve to indi- 
cate the comparative length of rainy and dry periods. It will be seen 
that the greatest length of rainy periods for each month is, with very 
few exceptions, markedly less than that of dry periods. These tables 
are nearly in accord with those showing the percentage of days with or 
without rainfall which appear in the reports of the United States 
Weather Bureau. At the stations included in the tables given above, 
the following is the mean percentage of days in which rain fell during 
the periods covered by the tables: Cairo, 38.5 per cent; St. Louis, 38.4 
percent; Springfield, 42.7 percent; Keokuk, 35.4 per cent; Chicago, 
44 per cent; Davenport, 40.8 per cent; Dubuque, 37.1 per cent. 

As the recent great drought is several times referred to in the course 
of the discussion, a few observations concerning it are made at this 
point. The' drought extended from June, 1894, to the early part of 
November, 1895, a period involving the whole of one growing season 
and the greater part of another. It is also the chief part of the season 
in both years during which evaporation is great. In the seventeen 
months of this period the rainfall was about 39 inches, or only 1 inch 
above the normal annual rainfall. The uniform prevalence of the 
drought is well shown by the records of the State Weather Service 
stations, which indicate that in 1894 no one of the 56 stations in the 
State had a precipitation so great as the average normal precipitation, 
and in 1895 only 7 stations out of 97 in Illinois and on its borders had 
a precipitation above the normal. The rainfall from April 1 to Novem- 
ber 30, 1894, the growing season, was 7.66 inches less than the normal, 
and in the same part of 1 895 it was 5.54 inches less than the normal. 
In 1895 a heavy rainfall in July (5.36 inches) greatly helped the corn 



leverett.] THE RAINFALL. 35 

and other crops which mature in the fall, and contrasted strongly with 
the same month in 1894, when there was but 1.45 inches of rainfall, an 
amount abont half the normal for that month. The general effect of 
this drought has been no more disastrous to crops in Illinois than that 
of previous droughts, as, for example, the one which prevailed in 1870, 
1871, and 1872; but the recent drought has, as already indicated, 
produced a greater lowering of the ground water and reduction of the 
supply in springs and shallow wells than any heretofore experienced. 

In a discussion of water resources the minor contributions of mois- 
ture in the form of dew merit consideration. This is especially true in 
a region like Illinois, where in seasons of drought the heavy dews 
often partially offset the deficiency of rainfall. Very few observations 
of value have as yet been made upon this subject, and these are mainly 
based upon the erroneous supposition that dew is contributed almost 
wholly by the atmosphere. It is probable that the amounts contrib- 
uted by the several sources — air, earth, and vegetation — vary greatly at 
different places and at different seasons in a given place, and it may be 
no easy task to make the discriminations. In damp regions the ground 
doubtless contributes a large part of the dew, and is probably a chief 
source of moisture for frost. It has been estimated that the dew pre- 
cipitated in Great Britain would measure 1^ inches in depth, but as 
measurements are difficult the estimate may be only a rude approxi- 
mation. 1 In some seasons of drought the effect of dews upon the crops 
of Illinois apparently equals a rainfall of 1 inch or more. 

The benefit of dew is recognized by observant farmers, and a striking 
contrast in the effect of droughts which are accompanied by dew and 
those not so accompanied is appreciated and commented upon. In Illi- 
nois, however, there are other conditions accompanying drought which 
are far more influential than presence or absence of dew. A prevailing 
cloudiness, or freedom from hot, dry winds from the southwest, often 
carries a crop through a season of drought more prolonged than could 
be endured under a clear sky, even though accompanied by dew, to say 
nothing of one in which there is a clear sky with a scorching southwest 
blast. 

1 Elementary Meteorology, by W. H. Davis, p. 156. 



CHAPTEE III. 

THE RUN-OFF. 

QUALIFYING CONDITIONS. 

The run-off' for any given area is dependent upon several conditions, 
the more important of which are rainfall, slope, perfection of drainage 
lines, geological structure, vegetation, and temperature. For any given 
locality the slope of surface, stream bed, perfection of drainage, and 
geological structure may be assumed to be constant, while the other 
factors are variable. But if we take into consideration a large area 
like the State of Illinois, all factors are variable. 

The slope of stream beds, as indicated above, ranges from the very 
low rate of descent of the lower Illinois, with a fall of but 30 feet in 225 
miles, to a descent, as in the lower portion of the Des Plaines, Kanka- 
kee, Pox, and Vermilion rivers, of several feet per mile. Throughout 
much of the State, however, the main streams depart but little from a 
fall of 2 feet per mile, while the Mississippi, lower Illinois, and lower 
Wabash fall much less than 1 foot per mile. The small streams seldom 
fall at a more rapid rate than 5 to 10 feet per mile, except in the small 
head-water tributaries. On the whole, therefore, the slope of stream 
beds is low, and run-off, so far as influenced by them, is moderate. 

With very few exceptions the slope of the surface is low. Aside from 
the rock mounds and ridges above noted and a few sharp drift knolls 
and prominent morainic ridges, the slopes are seldom greater than 20 
feet per mile, and it is estimated that over fully half the State they are 
less than 10 feet per mile. The slopes in the older drift region (that 
lies outside the Shelbyville moraine, PI. OIX) are, as a rule, less rapid 
than in the newer drift, because of the rare occurrence there of moraines 
or other drift ridges to give the surface relief. This lack of relief is, 
however, compensated for in the older drift by greater maturity of 
drainage systems. 

Throughout much of the newer drift area there is a very imperfect 
system of drainage, with areas often several square miles in extent in 
which no channel has yet been opened; while in the older drift and in 
the driftless portions of the State a comparatively perfect system of 
drainage has been developed. In much of the older drift, drainage lines 
are so well arranged that there remain only occasional tracts of a few 
acres along water partings where no surface outlet occurs; such poorly 
drained tracts seldom reach a square mile in extent. The conditions 
for escape of water are therefore less favored by original slope in the 
older than in the newer drift, but are better favored by perfection of 
drainage lines. 
36 



LEVERETT.] THE RUN-OFF. 37 

The geological structure presents important variations. Although 
the single term "drift" is made to cover the surface deposits of much 
of the State, it does not follow that there is uniformity. The drift 
deposits vary as greatly in their capacity to absorb the rainfall as do 
the several rock formations which appear within the State. Were 
their thickness sufficient to compare with the pervious rock formations, 
the gravel and sand of the drift would have no equal among indurated 
rocks in capacity to absorb moisture. On tlfe other hand, the compact 
clay, such as covers much of southern Illinois, can scarcely be equaled 
by any of the rock strata of Illinois in its power to withstand the pen- 
etration of water. The drift deposits are so variable in structure from 
place to place, and also in vertical section, that it is difficult toiudicate 
precisely the extent of any particular deposit. On the whole, the sur- 
face gravel and sand are of importance only in the northern part of the 
State. They include much of the Kankakee drainage basin and of the 
portion of Illinois lying north of the west-flowing part of the Illinois 
Eiver. The gravel deposits are especially abundant in McHenry, Kane, 
and Dupage counties, both on uplands and along valleys. In counties 
farther west they are confined mainly to valleys or lowlands. The 
effect of these deposits is to give a regular run-off, for they often absorb 
sufficient rainfall to furnish in seasons of drought a larger amount of 
water than is supplied by the rainfall of such seasons. 

The absorption by the earth, or ground storage, is probably a much 
more potent facto/ than any yet mentioned. Throughout the heated 
term the ground water is usually lowered to such a degree as to give 
the earth great capacity for absorbing the rain. It thus happens that 
the heaviest rainfalls of July and August seldom greatly increase the 
discharge of streams, while those of May or June, even though less in 
amount, may, because of the saturated condition of the soil and subsoil, 
produce disastrous floods. A large amount of water is usually to be 
found in the earth at levels above that of adjacent stream beds. The 
surface of this ground water corresponds more nearly with the surface 
of the ground than with the horizon of adjacent stream beds. In wet 
seasons, in humid districts such as Illinois, it is raised quite to the 
surface, while in dry seasons it is lowered a few feet by evaporation, 
by plant absorption, and by escape to streams. It seldom, however, 
becomes so low as to reach the horizon of stream beds, and therefore 
contributes water to the streams in dry as well as in wet periods. It 
thus happens that for a period of several months the run-off from a 
drainage basin may exceed its rainfall. 

Surface storage is another important modifier. Where there are 
lakes or basins in which the water is collected and fed slowly to the 
streams, as in the Kankakee and Green Eiver basins, the discharge of 
streams is equalized and made somewhat uniform throughout the year, 
even though the rainfall varies greatly in different seasons of the year. 
Whether or not surface storage greatly diminishes the amount of 



38 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

run-off depends upon the amount of evaporation or absorption, and 
varies with different drainage basins. 

Vegetation may either increase or retard the escape of water, and 
does not greatly affect the amount discharged. Its retarding effect 
may be seen by comparing the rapid rise of streams after a heavy rain 
in districts where there are cultivated fields with the less rapid rise 
where the streams are bordered by forests or by dense grasses. On 
the other hand, it is often tfce case that under moderate rainfall culti- 
vated fields absorb water more rapidly than meadows. 1 

The temperature also modifies the amount of run-off at any given 
place, there being more rapid disposal of rainfall by evaporation in 
the heated seasons than in the colder portions of the year. 

The above considerations may be embodied in the following state- 
ment: The run-off from any district indicates the excess of precipita- 
tion over the evaporation and absorption which take place in that 
district. As evaporation and absorption, as well as precipitation, vary 
in the different seasons of the year, and to some degree from year to 
year, the volume of a stream is usually subject to considerable fluctua- 
tion, and it becomes not an easy matter to estimate the normal run-off. 

USUAL REGIMEN OF ILLINOIS STREAMS. 

In Illinois the volume of the streams has a series of seasonal varia- 
tions, there being three periods when the volume is great, two periods 
when it is low, and one period when it is moderate. 

The order of events is about as follows: During the winter, when 
the ground is frozen and precipitation is comparatively light, the streams 
are low. In early spring the thawing of the ground and the greater 
precipitation lead to a spring freshet, when the streams are often bank- 
full or even overflowing. This freshet usually occurs in March or early 
in April. For a few weeks after this freshet the streams are at a mod- 
erate stage, slightly above the normal. This is followed by the " June 
rise," occasioned by the great rainfall which occurs in that month, when 
streams often reach as high a stage as in the spring freshet. After the 
June rise the streams usually drop to a low stage and remain low through 
the heated term, evaporation and absorption being so great as to dispose 
of nearly all the rainfall. In the autumn, about the autumnal equinox 
or a little later, heavy rains occur, which cause the streams to become 
swollen for a few days, or even weeks, but which seldom cause them to 
overflow their banks. In some years these seasonal variations are 
slight, and the streams show but little change in volume, but such years 
are exceptional. The raiufall is seldom sufficient to cause freshets to 
last for more than a few days. The moderate and low stages are 
estimated to generally cover ten months of the year, and occasionally 
eleven months. 

■For data concerning the effect of different methods of cultivation on the amount of absorption and 
depth of soil moisture, see discussion by Prof. Milton Whitney, Yearbook of U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, 1894, pp. 159-162. 



leverett] STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 39 

During a. period of years when the rainfall is above the normal the 
streams reach a very low stage only for a small part of the year, whereas 
in periods of low rainfall a low stage is maintained or a large part of the 
year. Such has been the case in the dry period of 1894 and 1895, there 
being but a few weeks of the seventeen months covered by the drought 
in which the rivers rose above the ordinary low flow, and much of the 
time they were far below it. The run-off for these years amounts to but 
a small fraction of the ordinary discharge. In streams visited by the 
writer in southeastern Iowa, it is estimated to be not more than one- 
tenth. Thus in Skunk Eiver, which is estimated by the proprietors of 
mills on its lower course to have an ordinary low- water flow of about (300 
cubic feet per second, the low- water stage for much of the seventeen 
months of drought was but 50 to 100 cubic feet per second. 

STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 

But few measurements or reliable computations have been made on 
Illinois streams, but such as have been made cover some of the largest 
streams of the State or its borders. On the Mississippi at Grafton 
(just below the mouth of the Illinois) and at Hannibal, Mo. (above the 
mouth of the Illinois), measurements were made by the United States 
Army engineers, covering the year 1882. l Several measurements of the 
Illinois and its tributaries have been made at different points by the 
United States Army engineers, by the Chicago Drainage Commission, 
and by other organizations. Rock Eiver, also, has been measured at 
different points by competent engineers. 

ROOK RIVER. 

The discharge from this valley has been estimated by Greenleaf 
from a careful gaging at Milan, a few miles from the mouth of the 
stream. The ordinary low- water flow is found to be 3,932 cubic feet 
per second, or 0.36 second-foot per square mile. G-reenleaf estimates 
the average yearly flow to be 9,944 cubic feet per second, or 0.90 
second-foot per square mile. 

In September, 1895, careful measurements with gage were made 
below the mouth of the Pecatonica, near the city of Rockford. The 
measurements were conducted by E. C. Rae, an electrical engineer from 
Chicago, who was accompanied by the city engineer of Rockford and 
an exx^ert hydraulic engineer. The results of the measurements are 
summarized as follows in Mr. Rae's manuscript report to the mayor 
and city council of Rockford. 2 

Measurements of Hock River near Rockford, III. 

Square feet. 

Cross section of river 1, 487 

Speed of water in feet, per minute 41. 36 

Flow in cubic feet, per minute - 61, 502 

1 Report of XT. S. Army Engineers, 1883, Appendix TT, pp. 2671-2675. 

2 The writer is indebted to Mr. Daniel W. Head, C. E., of Rockford, for a copy of the report. 



40 THE WATER RESOURCES OP ILLINOIS. 

The flow per second is therefore about 1,026 feet, which is only 0.158 
second-foot per square mile of area, the area of the portion of Bock 
Eiver above that point being - about 6,500 square miles. Mr. Eae's 
report also contains the following statements: 

From all appearances, and from the evidence at our disposal, the water was at its 
lowest stage, and as the rainfall has heen below the average during the past eighteen 
months, it will be safe to assume that the results obtained in the gagings show the 
lowest volume likely to occur. * * The normal height of the water, however, 

should be about 2 feet above its surface at the time of gaging, which would of 
course increase the volume. 

The additional 2 feet of depth would increase the flow to about 1,600 
cubic feet per second, or nearly 0.25 second-foot per square mile. This 
may be taken as the ordinary low- water discharge. It is slightly 
lower than that from the entire basin. Accepting Greenleaf's estimate 
of the ratio between the ordinary low flow and the average yearly flow 
(4:10), the latter will be about 4,000 cubic feet per second, or 0.6154 
second-foot per square mile of area. 

It is thought that the average run-off of Illinois streams will not be 
greater than that of the upper portion of Rock River, and that it may 
differ but little from it. In this part of the Rock River basin there is 
included a variety of drainage which on the whole favors average run- 
off. It is true that a portion is through swamps and lakes, and a por- 
tion through streams with low rate of fall; but a large part is through 
streams with moderate fall, while in the head-water portions of some 
tributaries there is as rapid fall as is often met with in Illinois. It is 
believed, therefore, that the run-off is fully as great as the average dis- 
charge from Illinois streams. 

A discharge of 0.60 second-foot per square mile is equivalent to 7.282 
cubic miles of water per year from the entire State of Illinois. As the 
annual rainfall of the State, according to Professor Harrington's esti- 
mate, amounts to 34 cubic miles, the estimated run-off is about 21 per 
cent of the rainfall. The rainfall being 38 inches, the estimated run-off 
is about 8 inches. 

This estimate is supported by results from measurements and esti- 
mates made in other parts of the country, as may be seen by reference 
to tables published by Mr. Jewell in the Fourteenth Annual Report 
of the Survey.' Mr. Newell estimates that the mean discharge of 
rivers of small size in the eastern part of the United States is not far 
from 1.5 to 2 second-feet per square mile, or two to three times that 
of our estimate for Illinois. In that district the stream discharge is 
accelerated greatly by the steeper slopes, and also by greater rainfall 
than in Illinois, which accounts for the greater percentage of run-off. 

In a diagram representing the relation of run-off to rainfall 2 Mr. 

1 Results of stream measurements, by F. H. Newell : Fourteenth Ann. Rept. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, Part 
II, 1893, pp. 95-155. 

2 Loocit., p. 151, fig. 24. 



leverett.] STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 41 

Newell has indicated that for an open country with low slopes, where 
the mean annual rainfall is 40 inches, a run-off of 15 inches may be 
expected, while with a rainfall of 30 inches a run-off of about 8 inches 
is likely to occur; and where the rainfall is 20 inches, only about 3 
inches reaches the streams, the quantity, as in the other case, rapidly 
decreasing with less rainfall. In the case of Illinois, the very low 
slopes, combined with imperfect development of drainage lines, give 
results somewhat lower than indicated in the diagram, a rainfall of 
nearly 38 inches apparently producing a run-off no greater than would 
ordinarily be expected with a rainfall of but 30 inches. 

THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 

Measurements by the United States Army engineers at Grafton, 111., 
show the flow for a year of unusual rainfall, the year 1882. The gage 
readings range from 31,000 to 392,000 cubic feet per second, with an 
average of about 150,000. Those at Hannibal for the same year show a 
range from 17,000 to 292,000 cubic feet per second, with an average of 
about 111,500. The most important tributary entering the Mississippi 
between these points is the Illinois, which contributes about 80 per 
ceni of the accession. The discharge of the Illinois for 1882 may there- 
fore be placed at 11,000 to 80,000 cubic feet per second, with an average 
of about 30,000. 

The drainage area of the portion of the Mississippi above Hannibal 
being about 137,100 square miles (Greenleaf ), the run-off ranged from 
2£ second-feet per square mile to about one-eighth of a second-foot, 
with an average of about 0.8. On the Illinois, the drainage area being 
27,917 square miles, the run-off ranged from nearly 3 second-feet per 
square mile to 0.1 of a second-foot, with an average of about 1.1. 

The year 1882, being one of exceptional precipitation (43.8 inches in 
Illinois) and being in the midst of a series of, years in which the rain- 
fall was above the normal, the run-off is evidently greater than the 
normal. The above measurements should therefore be considered a 
maximum yearly run-off rather than a normal one. This is especially 
true of the Illinois. Gage readings at Kampsville, 30 miles above the 
mouth of the Illinois, show that the river became bank-full October 4, 
1881, and was overflowing or nearly full until July 28, 1882, and that 
in the last part of the year it was at a low stage (less than 3 feet above 
low water of 1879) for only twenty-nine days. The average yearly run- 
off for the Upper Mississippi is probably lower than for Eock Eiver, 
or not more than 0.6 of a second-foot per square mile of watershed. 

ILLINOIS RIVER. 

The valley of the Illinois has been made the subject of investigation 
by the United States Army engineers and by the Chicago Drainage 
Commission, a commission appointed in 1886 to investigate the sub- 
ject of the disposal of Chicago sewage. Each organization has given 
much attention to the question of rendering the Illinois Eiver navigable 
by supplying it with water from Lake Michigan. A large amount of 



42 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



statistical matter has thus been gathered concerning the regimen of 
this stream. The statistics pertain, however, not to a stream of normal 
gradient, but to one which in the lower 225 miles of its course more 
nearly resembles the Great Lakes than an ordinary river. From these 
reports such data have been selected as will indicate the regimen of 
this peculiar river. 

Attention has already been called to the river's gradients and the 
gradients of its tributaries, it being shown that there is a comparatively 
rapid fall into the lower Illinois from head-water tributaries as well as 
those which enter its lower course. Professor Cooley has also brought 
to notice a peculiar grouping of the tributaries. Of the total water- 
shed of the river 11,847 square miles, or 42 J per cent, is above Utica, 
or in the new portion of the valley, while in the next 86 miles of descent 
there is an increase of but 12£ per cent; in the following 60 miles 35 
per cent is added, leaving only 10 per cent of the catchment area for 
the lower 65 miles. Concerning the effect of this grouping, Professor 
Cooley writes as follows: 

Over 80 per cent of the entire watershed lies in two distinct basins, each differing 
in climatic and topographical conditions, the northern one dominating the valley 
down to Copperas Creek, or even Havana, the central basin of the State entering the 
middle section and modifying the lower half of the stream. The lower section is 
affected sensibly by the fluctuations of the Mississippi. 

These two basins lie in different storm tracks, so that rain floods may not coincide. 
The southern basin will usually part with its snow several days sooner in the spring, 
and more promptly than the northern, as it is more nearly uniform in latitude. 
Relatively, the floods are probably larger. The sediment from the central basin is 
doubtless much larger in quantity, as shown by the lower section, which has a much 
less proportion of deep water and a steeper slope, perhaps ascribable to the influence 
of the Mississippi in part. Above the Sangamon is a deep pool, and again, Havana 
Lake, above Spoon River, and finally Lake Peoria, broad and long, the remnant of 
the ancient stream bed, which demonstrates how little, relatively, has been the 
detritus from the northern basin, for w T hich the large proportion of marsh and lake 
sufficiently accounts. These conditions are undergoing change, and the supply of 
detritus will increase with detrimental effect on all that part of the valley above the 
Sangamon, and especially above Peoria. 

The portion of the lower Illinois above the mouth of the Sangamon 
has a much smaller prism than the portion below, and Professor Cooley 
estimates the bank-full capacity at several points as follows: 

Bank-full capacity of lower Illinois liiver. 



Locality. 


Cubic feet per 
second. 


Remarks. 


Peru 

Henry 

Copperas Creek .. 

Lagrange 

Kampsville 


18, 000-22, 000 

20, 000-22, 000 

18, 000-20, 000 
30, 000 
40, 000 


Measured in 1889. Variation oc- 
curs according as river is rising 
or falling. 

Very tentative estimates from 
dam and prism. 

Do. 

Measured in 1889. 

Estimated from measurements in 
1889. 



LBVEKETT.l STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 43 

The prolongation of floods in the lower Illinois may be seen by com- 
paring - records of overflow with those of points in the upper Illinois. 
Records at Morris, in the upper Illinois, in the eighteen years from 1871 
to 1889 are reported by Professor Cooley to show but 117 days of over- 
flow, or Gh days per year. At Copperas Creek, on the lower Illinois, 
the records for the same period (omitting those for 1878, which were not 
at hand) showed 1,000 days, or 55i days per year. On the lower section 
of the lower Illinois the floods are still more prolonged, x>artly because 
of influx of water through the Sangamon and partly because of the back- 
water from the Mississippi. Thus, at Copperas Creek, above the mouth 
of the Sangamon, in the period from 1883 to 1889, inclusive, the river 
was out of banks 444 days, or 03 J days per year, while at Lagrange, 
below the mouth of that stream, it was out 526 days, or 75 days per 
year. At Morris, for the same period, it was out only S£ days per year. 

Professor Cooley discusses the capacity of the bottoms along the 
lower Illinois to serve as an impounding area as follows: 

An area of 701 square miles, submerged to a uniform depth of 4 feet — this is a flood 
height of 16 feet and not an unusual occurrence — represents 1.21 inches of water 
running off the entire watershed and will supply the river at the rate of 110,000 
cubic feet at the mouth for 8.26 days, or at half this volume, which is an approxima- 
tion to the true maximum discharge, for 16.52 days. An overflow of 8 feet, or a flood 
of 20 feet, which is an extraordinary occurrence, represents 2.42 inches of water run- 
ning off the entire watershed, and will supply the river at the rate of 110,000 cubic 
feet for 16.52 clays, or at half the volume for 33.04 days. 

When it is considered that the water is draining out constantly to the Mississippi, 
and that the depths of water running off the entire watershed in a brief time must 
therefore be greater, the conditions are certainly remarkable. An overflow 8 feet 
deep will supply a bank-full river 21.8 days at Copperas Creek and 36.6 days at La- 
grange. The river has been out of banks at these points for 120 days, and for that 
time a bank-full river at Lagrange will carry 4.8 inches of water from the entire 
watershed, equal to 5.33 inches of water from the watershed above Lagrange, 1 and 
the volume flowing in the river course should be greater for the higher stages. 
Without going into details, it seems as if the volume of water moved mainly in the 
channel, the bottoms impounding the surplus temporarily until the channel has time 
to carry it away. 

In fact, during flood stages the valley is a great lake of, say, 700 square miles, 
into which flood waters from above and from tributaries are precipitated, and from 
the lower end of which they run out more at leisure in reduced and equalized 
volume. 

This general consideration explains why floods are higher and less continuous at 
Lasalle than at points below, as here the upper section of the valley is mainly fed 
with the laud drainage, to be equalized and prolonged in flow through the reservoir 
action of the bottoms. The central basin acts similarly on the lower half of the 
valley, and even backs the waters at times on the upper section, and likewise the 
Mississippi may back it on the lower section. When the upper river has filled the 
bottoms at Lasalle and has run out, then occurs the slow discharge of the impounded 
waters southward with a gradual subsidence, and at such time the flow in the upper 
end of the impounding area is naturally small, and for weeks there is little apparent 
discharge over the dam at Henry, and at Copperas Creek the action is only less 
marked. 

1 A bank-full river at Copperas Creek for 120 days will carry off 5.85 inches of water from the water- 
shed above Copperas Creek. 



44 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



Aii illustration of the effects of this impounding area, reported by 
Mr. E. J. Ward, is found in the flooded, stage of the stream in May, 
1892. The flood culminated at Morris, May 6, with a discharge of 
73,730 cubic feet per second, as determined by an assistant engineer 
of the Chicago Drainage Commission. It required twelve days for the 
flood tide to reach the mouth of the river, a distance of only 260 miles, 
and the flood discharge had increased to 94,760 cubic feet, or only about 
21,000 cubic feet per second, as determined by the same engineer. The 
flood stage at Morris here reported is exceptionally high, being from a 
drainage area of but 7,360 square miles. 

The gage readings at the dams along its lower course show that this 
portion of the Illinois bears more resemblance to Lake Michigan than 
to the ordinary streams of this State. It does not show so well as ordi- 
nary streams the several alternations of high and low water. On the 
contrary, it usually maintains high water from the early spring to 
midsummer, and low water the remainder of the year. Cage readings 
for Kampsville, Lagrange, Copperas Creek, and other dams are pre- 
sented by Capt. W. L. Marshall in the report of the United States Army 
engineers, 1890. The following table of average monthly means, based 
upon the daily gage readings at the Copperas Creek dam for the years 
1879 to 1889, inclusive, serves to illustrate the above statement: 

Table showing monthly means of gage readings above and below Copperas Creek dam for 
eleven years, 1879 to 1889, inclusive. 1 



Month. 



January 

February 

March 

April 

May -... 

June 

July 

August 

September. .. 

October 

November . . . 
December . . . 

Annual 



Above dam. 



Feet. 

9.10 

10.42 

12.59 

11.93 

1 0.44 

9.68 

8.44 

7.25 

7.02 

7-30 

8.04 

8.39 



9.22 



Below dam. 



Feet. 

12.31 

14.37 

17.15 

16.50 

14.43 

13.45 

11.44 

8.55 

7.58 

8.52 

10.07 

11.01 



12.11 



1 Report of Capt. W. L. Marshall, TJ. S. Army Engineers, vol. 3, 1890, pp. 2525-2531. 



From the above table it appears that on the Illinois a minimum flow 
is reached in September, near the close of the summer drought. On 



LEVEHETT.] 



STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 



45 



Lake Michigan there is but the one fluctuation, but the lowest stage is 
in February, when the tributaries are frozen and precipitation is low, 
as may be seen by the following table : 

Table showing mean stages of La~ke Michigan above Chicago city datum, for thirty years, 

1860 to 1S89, inclusive. * 



Month. 



Mean 

stage. 



January. 
February 
March . . . 

April 

May 

June 



Feet. 

1.573 

1.562 

1. 731 

1.935 

2.192 

2.428 



Month. 



July 

August. . . 
September 
October .. 
November 
December 



Mean 



Feet. 

2.503 
2.455 
2.290 
2.051 
1.803 
1.572 



* Table hy L. L. Wheeler, assistant engineer; Kept. U. S. Army Engineers, vol. 3, 1890, p. 2517. 

The average run-off at the Copperas Creek dam for the eleven years, 
1879 to 1889, inclusive, has been estimated by Prof. L. E. Cooley, from 
gage readings, to be 10,500 cubic feet per second. 1 The drainage area 
of the Illinois above this dam is estimated to be 15,250 square miles. 
The run-off is therefore about 0.688 second-foot per square mile, or 
very nearly the same as Greenleaf's estimate for the entire basin (0.654 
second-foot per square mile). The normal rainfall for the Illinois basin 
is about 37 inches, of which, as estimated by Greenleaf, 24 per cent, or 
8.88 inches, escapes by the stream. As indicated above, this is proba- 
bly not far from the average run-off for the State. 

The low-water volume of the Illinois is exceedingly small, as may be 
seen by the following statistics compiled by Professor Cooley : 

In 1888 the water running over the Henry clam was less than 500 cubic feet per 
second for 9 days and at Copperas Creek for 20 days. The water at Copperas Creek 
was at or below the same level in 1887 for 117 clays; in 1886, 18 days; in 1879, 44 
days ; at Henry in 1877, 30 days ; in 1875, 47 clays, and in 1871 apparently for a longer 
period. The volume in 1888 was less than that sent through the canal at Chicago 
for the same period (about 700 cubic feet per second). Lake water from 300 cubic 
feet upward has been going to the valley ever since July, 1871.- 

Professor Cooley states that the amount of leakage through the dams 
at these times is not known. He estimates that since the Bridgeport 
pumps were erected in 1883 over half the minimum discharge of the 
portion of the valley above the mouth of the Sangamon has come from 
Lake Michigan, and about one-third below the mouth of the Sangamon. 
The river was measured in 1887 at low-water stage at Lagrange, below 



'Lake anil Gulf Waterway, by L. E. Cooley, p. 65. 
i Ibid,p.64. 



46 THE V r ATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

the mouths of all the large tributaries, and found to have a discharge 
of but 1,685 cubic feet per second. 1 Assuming Professor Cooley's esti- 
mate of one-third as due to influx from Lake Michigan, and allowing a 
slight addition for small tributaries below Lagrange, we have about 
1,-00 feet as a low-water discharge of the Illinois, a discharge of but 
0.043 second-foot per square mile of area. 

Summing up results of measurements, it appears that in a wet sea- 
sou the stream discharges range from 0.40 to 3 second-feet per square 
mile of area, with an average of 1.1 second-feet. In an ordinary season 
the average discharge is about 0.65 second-foot ijer square mile. In a 
season of drought the low-water discharge is but 0.043 second-foot per 
square mile. 

Kankakee River. — Measurements and estimates of the flow of the 
Kankakee have been made at W ilmington, near the mouth of the stream, 
by Mr. E. S. Waters, for the period of twelve years ending in 1883. 
The following statements of results of Mr. Waters's observations are 
presented by Professor Cooley, in a report to the State board of 
health. 2 

Volume of the Kankakee River at Wilmington, III. 

Cubic feet per second. 

Extreme high-water stage ■. 30, 000-35, 000 

Ordinary low- water stage 1, 300 

Extreme low-water stage 420 

This stream, as already noted, is remarkably regular in its flow, 
because of the great marsh, which acts as a storage reservoir and con- 
stant feeder for the lower course. The lowest stages of the river occur 
when in severe winters the marsh is frozen so solid as to prevent the 
escape of water to the river. 

The ordinary low-water discharge of this river is but 0.25 second- 
foot per square mile of area, but the average run-off probably reaches 
that of the en tire upper basin of the Illinois (0.688) if it does not exceed 
it. The period covered by the observations includes both dry and wet 
years, and probably represents well the ordinary low discharge. 

Des Plaines River. — This stream has had an exceptionally interesting 
history. During the activity of the south westward outlet of Lake Michi- 
gan it was tributary to the lake, entering it at first about 2 miles 
north of Riverside. As the lake level lowered, the mouth extended 
south until it reached the site of Riverside. After the outlet was aban- 
doned two courses lay open to the stream, either east into the lake or 
southwest along the old outlet, for its point of entrance is near the 
summit in the old outlet. In flood stages the water rose above the 
level of the summit, and the stream consequently flowed in both direc- 
tions. It is thought by Professor Cooley that the main discharge of 
the river for the greater part of the time since the southwestward outlet 

i Report TJ. S. Army Engineers, vol. 3, 1890, p. 2443. 

2 Prel. Rent. State Hoard of Health, on Water Supplies and Pollution of Streams, 1889, p. 79. 



levkrett.] STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 47 

•w as abandoned by the lake has been into Lake Michigan, the south- 
westward coarse being occupied only in flood stages. . Its present 
regimen is just the reverse. This opinion of Professor Cooler's is based 
upon the very small channel cut by the stream in its present course 
down the outlet. The change to the present course he thinks to be due 
to an accumulation of the river silts in the lakeward course to such a 
height as to prevent the low-water flow from taking that course. 1 But 
at high-water stages it still spreads out to the eastward along the old 
outlet (now forming an inlet to the lake), and much of its flood enters 
Lake Michigan. 

The Des Plaines has been found to have at Riverside an extreme 
flood stage of about 10,000 cubic feet per second, with an occasional 
higher volume, as in April, 1881, when it reached 13,500 cubic feet. It 
has been estimated by Professor Cooley that, on an average, once in 
five or six years during the past fifty years the flood has exceeded 
10,000 cubic feet, while the ordinary yearly flood, as shown by marks 
on a dam at Lyons, just below Riverside, is 6,000 to 7,000 cubic feet per 
second. In these extreme floods nearly half the water has been wont 
to discharge into Lake Michigan, and in ordinary floods a small dis- 
charge has usually occurred. 2 

As a consequence, the flood stages of the Des Plaines are higher 
above Riverside than those of the lower course of the stream. Profes- 
sor Cooley estimates the normal extreme flood at Joliet to be but 0,300 
feet. At a flood stage in June, 1892, however, the discharge on the 
lower Des Plaines at Joliet reached 10,500 cubic feet per second (E. J. 
Ward). 

The drainage area above Riverside is scarcely 1,000 square miles. 
This gives at the maximum extreme flood of April, 1881, a flow of fully 
13.5 second-feet per square mile of area. The low-water volume is 
exceedingly small. Professor Cooley reports that at Riverside, in 1887, 
it reached a minimum of 4.27 feet per second, and for five months did 
not exceed 1G| cubic feet per second. He estimates that for nearly 
every year the extreme low water at Riverside and Joliet reaches about 
5 cubic feet per second." 

The main tributary of the Des Plaines, the Dupage River, as noted 
by Professor Cooley, drains a more gravelly tract than the Des Plaines 
and receives water from springs, so that it sustains a larger low- water 
flow than the upper Des Plaines, but its extreme low-water flow is 
still very small; it is estimated by Professor Cooley to not exceed a 
mean of 50 feet per second in a period of twenty years, and possibly 
reaches as low as 17 to 20 feet per second in some years. 3 The greater 
percentage of range of the Des Plaines, as compared with the main 

'The Illinois River in its relations to sanitary engineering, L. E. Cooley, C. E.: Prel. Kept. 111. 
State Board of Health, 1889, pp. 54-55. 
z Loc. cit., pp. 72-73. 
3 Loe. cit., p. 74. 



48 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

stream, the Illinois, illustrates a general rule in streams which has 
been well expressed by Cooley as follows: 1 

The flood volume of a stream is never equal to the combined volumes of the tribu- 
taries, and with many tributaries and a large area does not even approach such a 
volume. The several tributaries will not reach high water at the same time, nor will 
their floods reach the main stream conjointly; neither do they enter at the same 
point, but are distributed along the valley. The practical result is that the duration 
of the flood in the main stream is much lengthened, and the volume is correspond- 
ingly less than the aggregate of the tributaries. Alteration in the flood conditions 
of the tributaries will not materially change the time or order in the contribution to 
the main stream, and as the results are only partially cumulative the effect is rela- 
tively less. In many large basins no sensible change would probably occur. 

The reverse is true in a less degree of the low-water volumes. No two tributaries 
are in exactly the same condition as to low water at exactly the same time, but as 
the low-water period is very much longer than that of floods, the results are more 
nearly cumulative. It is found practically that the low- water volume in small basins 
is less per square mile than in large ones. 

Fox River. — The run-off from Fox River, as reported by Greenleaf 
from measurements by United States Army engineers, is 526 cubic 
feet per second, or 0.195 second-foot per square mile of its drainage 
basin. This is thought to be the ordinary low-water discharge. Green- 
leaf further states that those familiar with the stream claim that it has 
fallen off one-half in its low-water volume since the clearing and culti- 
vating of the land and the draining of the swamps. 

Sangamon River. — The Sangamon Eiver is subject to great vari- 
ations in volume, there being in the annual flood stages a rise sufficient 
to overflow banks 8 to 12 feet in height. The river at such times, being 
a swift stream, probably discharges not less than 15,000 cubic feet per 
second, and in extreme floods the discharge probably exceeds 20,000 
cubic feet per second. 

At low water the discharge, as estimated by Professor Cooley, drops 
to about 350 cubic feet per second. Professor Cooley estimates that 
the low-water discharge of the lower Illinois is increased about 600 feet 
by the contributions from the Sangamon and Spoon rivers and Crooked 
Creek. 2 The Sangamon carries about four-sevenths of this discharge, 
or about 350 cubic feet, leaving a low- water discharge of less than 200 
feet for Spoon Eiver and less than 100 feet for Crooked Creek. As the 
Sangamon is subject to low stages for a considerable part of the year, 
its efficiency is to be measured by the low- water flow rather than the 
average discharge. The average discharge is probably low because of 
the imperfect drainage lines of its upper course. 

STREAMS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. 

So far as known to the writer, no accurate gagings of the streams 
of southern Illinois have been made. No cause for a wide variation 
from the percentage of run-off in the streams of northern Illinois has, 



1 Loc. cit., p. 57. 

2 Lake and Gulf Waterways, p. 65. 



levebett.] STREAM MEASUREMENTS. 49 

however, been recognized. The southern district has probably a 
slightly higher rate of evaporation, which would tend to lessen the 
amount of run-off'; but it has, ou the other hand, a more perfect sys- 
tem of drainage, which would tend to iucrease the percentage of run- 
off'. Similarly, the lesser relief of the southern Illinois district tends 
to lower the run-off, but the greater perfection of drainage tends to 
increase it. The run-off of between sis and seven tenths of a second- 
foot per square mile of watershed area, found for the Rock and Illinois, 
seems likely to be shown also by streams of southern Illinois. 
6137 4 



CHAPTER IV. 



NAVIGABLE WATERS. 



The State of Illinois has possibilities in navigation not excelled by 
any other State so far removed from the seaboard. Touching as it 
does upon Lake Michigan, it is connected with the Eastern seaboard, 
and, bordered as it is by the Mississippi, it is connected with the 
Southern States and the Gulf of Mexico, and also with States to the 
north. Ou the Ohio, also, it is connected with a navigable waterway 
eastward to Pittsburg. Through the midst of the State passes the 
Illinois River, which, by the aid of dams and locks in its lower course, 
has been made navigable in ordinary low water as far as Peru for small 
river vessels. From Peru to Chicago the Illinois and Michigan Canal 
affords passage for canal boats between Lake Michigan and the Illinois. 

The lower Illinois River at very low stages has but 1£ to 2 feet of 
water on the bars. At such times navigation must of course be sus- 
pended. The present dams and locks are of service only at ordinary low 
water. It is evident that the present system of navigation by dams 
and locks interferes with rather than aids the stream in its effort to 
form a channel adapted to the small volume of water which it has car- 
ried since the lake outlet was abandoned. Any obstruction to the flow 
must decrease the effective work of the stream. Measures looking to 
an increase of volume in the river seem to be the natural remedy. For 
some years such measures have been under consideration, both by the 
United States Army engineers and by the Chicago Drainage Commis- 
sion. Work was begun in 1892 on a large channel which will extend 
from Lake Michigan southwestward through Chicago and along the 
line of the abandoned lake outlet to Joliet. A sanitary district was 
organized in 1890 under the general law for incorporating sanitary 
districts enacted by the Illinois legislature in 1889, and is known as 
the Sanitary District of Chicago. From its last report (April, 1895) the 
following statistics concerning the channel have been gathered: The 
channel is excavated partly in earth and partly in rock. The grade in 
the earth portion, which leads from Chicago nearly to Lemont, is 1 foot 
in 40,000, while in the rock section it is 1 foot in 20,000 feet. The bot- 
tom of the channel at its lakeward end is to be 24.448 feet below the 
city datum (which was extreme low water in Lake Michigan in 1847 and 
578.56 feet above mean tide in the Gulf of Mexico). The channel has 
in the rock section a capacity of 10,000 cubic feet per second. The 
50 



leverett.i NAVIGABLE WATERS. 51 

southwestern terminus will be near Lockport, where the channel enters 
the Des Plaines River. Controlling works will be constructed at that 
point for conducting the flow from the channel, in conjunction with the 
waters of the Des Plaines River, down the declivity through the city 
of Juliet. When completed, this channel will be a free waterway navi- 
gable lor any vessel drawing less than 22 feet of water. The cutting 
to be made by the sanitary district is estimated to cover about two- 
thirds of the entire cost of a channel from Chicago to the Mississippi 
which would be navigable for the largest boats able to ply between St. 
Lonis and New Orleans. The expense assumed by the sanitary district 
is about $21,600,000, of ^hich nearly $13,000,000 had been expended 
at the date of the last report, April 1, 1895. 

The commercial value of such a channel will no doubt lead sooner 
or later to its completion and give to the State of Illinois one of the 
greatest waterways of this country. 

A small canal is under construction which will connect the Missis- 
sippi at Rock Island with the Illinois at Hennepin, known as the Hen- 
nepin Canal. The feeder will be Rock River, and will lead southward 
from a x>oint near Dixon. The restrictions in the volume of water 
obtainable through this feeder will necessarily prevent the opening of 
a canal of great size, but it promises to afford navigation for the small 
vessels which now ply the Upper Mississippi and the Illinois. 

The construction of a canal past the lower rapids on the Mississippi 
near Keokuk has rendered that stream navigable in low stages as far 
as St. Paul, for the upper rapids are usually navigable for such boats 
as are in use between St. Paul and St. Louis — boats which do not draw 
more than G feet of water. 



CHAPTER V. 



WATER POWER. 



In his report for the Tenth Census, Prof. J. L. Greenleaf has dis- 
cussed in considerable detail the water power of Illinois streams, with 
the exception of those tributary to the Wabash. 1 As the present 
writer has made no special study of water power, he will only review 
briefly the results given by Professor Green leaf in the light of a study 
of the physical features. 

The northern part of the State is shown by Professor G-reenleaf to 
be far better fitted than the southern for the utilization of water power. 
The streams of the northern portion have, on the whole, a more rapid 
descent than those of the southern portion, because of the generally 
greater relief of that part of the State above the main valleys. The 
discharge of streams is also more uniform in the northern portion 
because of a loose-textured drift which absorbs the rainfall and feeds 
the streams through seasons of drought, and because of marshes and 
lakes which also serve to impound water and feed the streams in dry 
seasons. A striking contrast is therefore found in the use of water 
power. In the northern portion of the State not only the large streams, 
such as tbe Kankakee, Fox, Rock, Kishwaukee, and Pecatonica, have 
mills using water power, but smaller streams, such as Apple Creek, 
Yellow Creek, Sugar Creek, Carroll Creek, Elkhorn Creek, Rock Creek, 
and Piscasaw Creek — streams whose gathering grounds are but a few 
hundred square miles in extent — also afford power which is used by 
mills throughout most of the year. The only important exception in 
northern Illinois is Green River, a tributary of Rock River, which, with 
a watershed of 1,131 square miles, drains a large swampy basin and 
has a sluggish stream with low banks. This stream naturally has no 
developed water power. 

In western Illinois, Spoon River, a tributary of the Illinois, has sev- 
eral mills using water x>ower which is ordinarily sufficient for milling 
purposes. Edwards and Henderson rivers and Pope Creek, tributaries 
of the Mississippi, have mills using water power, but the power is 
rather uncertain because of floods and very low stages. 

Prom the Illinois River southeastward the use of water power is largely 
abandoned. Vermilion River, Sangamon River, Kaskaskia River, and 

1 The water powers of the Mississippi and some of its tributaries, by J. L'. Greenleaf : Tentb Census 
of the United States, Vol. XVII, 1880, pp. 119-276. 

52 



LEVEEETT.] WATER POWER. 53 

other streams upon which mills using water power were constructed 
in pioneer days, have scarcely any mills remaining. The poor sites for 
dams in deposits of clay or sand, the great variation of water height, 
and the comparatively low fall of streams, combine to make the water 
power of little value to the miller or the manufacturer. The Big Ver- 
milion, a tributary of the Wabash, has several mills using water power, 
though in some cases not entirely dependent upon it. This stream is 
well calculated in its lower course, by rapid fall and by rocky beds and 
banks for dam foundations, to furnish power, and the high stages are 
less liable than are streams of lower rate of descent to produce back 
water; but it is subject to very low stages, in which the discharge is 
insufficient to produce the power necessary to run the mills. 



CHAPTER VI. 

WATER SUPPLIES FOR CITIES A]STD VILLAGES. 

GENERAL STATEMENT. 

Throughout much of Illinois several sources of water supply are 
available for domestic use. Chicago and the smaller cities bordering 
Lake Michigan may obtain water from the lake, from artesian wells, or 
from shallow wells. The cities aloug the main streams, with the excep- 
tion of those on the lower Des Plaines and the Illinois, where the water 
is contaminated by sew age, may generally use the stream water with 
safety. In addition to this they have usually an available supply of 
good water from wells of slight depth, and in much of northern and 
western Illinois a fair quality of water may be obtained from artesian 
wells. The cities not located near large streams or the lake, resort in 
some cases to storage reservoirs, formed by damming small streams, 
for a part of their supply, but the greater number depend entirely upon 
wells, and of these wells but few are artesian. In rural districts and 
in the villages which have no waterworks the supply is mainly from 
shallow wells, though deep wells are not rare. 

A study of the development of the water supply in cities shows that 
they have, in the early days, almost without exception, used shallow 
wells, but with the growth of the city often these either have become 
inadequate or are found to be contaminated. A change is then made 
to streams, if these are available, and if not deep wells are sunk. In a 
few places, however, among which Peoria is .a conspicuous instance, 
there has been a return to shallow wells because of the unpleasant 
taste of water from deep wells. 

In addition to the sources named, a large amount of the water sup- 
ply is from cisterns which collect the rain water from the roofs of dwell- 
ings or other buildings. Inasmuch as the well water and stream water 
are usually so strongly charged with lime as to be too hard for laundry 
purposes, rain water is in demand in both city and country. Cisterns 
are the main dependence in a few small districts, notably the driftless 
portions of the State and places where the drift is thin. In places 
where the drift, though thick, contains a very small sandy ingredient 
and few sand pockets or beds, good wells are so difficult to obtain that 
cisterns have come into use for all domestic needs. These districts are 
small, however, comprising scarcely one-tenth the area of the State. 
The drift usually affords abundance of excellent water at convenient 
depth. 

54 



LEVERETT.] 



CITY AND VILLAGE SUPPLIES. 



55 



SURFACE WATER. 

The extent to which surface water is used may perhaps be best shown 
by a list, nearly complete, of the cities and villages in which this is the 
chief source of supply. With the source of supply are included statis- 
tics concerning the cost of waterworks and systems used; also the 
running expenses per annum. In most instances these have been fur- 
nished by the officers in charge of the waterworks. 

The increase in the population since the last census was taken (in 
1890) has been more rapid in Chicago and some of the other leading- 
cities than in the villages and rural districts. There is, therefore, a 
larger proportion of the population in these cities, and consequently a 
larger proportion using surface water now than in 1890. In 1890, with 
a total population of 3,826,351, there were probably 1,375,000 people, 
or slightly more than one-third, using surface water. It is estimated 
that the present population is about 4,500,000, and that 1,800,000, or 
about two fifths of the population, depend mainly upon surface water. 

The State board of health has made analyses of water used by several 
of these cities, and they may be found in the tables of sanitary analyses 
given later in this paper. There is usually but little contamination from 
city sewage. The Chicago intakes are affected by sewage only when 
the Chicago Eiver is at high stages, which seldom amounts to more than 
a few days each year. At such times it becomes necessary to boil the 
water before drinking. Cities located upon streams usually obtain 
water at points above where the sewage enters. 



Cities and villages using surface water. 



Place. 


Popula- 
tion in 
1800. 


Source. 


Waterworks. 


Cost a. 


System. 




10,294 

10, 422 

3,293 

1,784 

4,763 

4.135 

1,099,850 
11, 491 

16, 841 

2,023 

15, 169 


Mississippi River 

Ohio Eiver and wells. 

Macoupin Creek 

Kaskaskia Eiver 

Crooked Creek and 
wells. 

Embarras River 

Lake Michigan 

North Vermilion 
River. 

Sangamon River 


(?) 
f $125, 000 
lEx. 20. 000 

(?) 
f 35, 000 


Pump to standpipe or direct. 

\Punrp to standpipe; Herdic 
/ system. 

(?) 




Carlinville 


Centralia 

Charleston 


(Ex. 1, 000 !/ 

f 45,000 k 

< 1 > Direct pressure. 

(Ex. 2,500 !/ v 

J 40 - 000 } Do. 
(Ex. 3,000 V 

(?) Tunnel and pumps. 

( ? ) ! Pump to standpipe. 

/ 20l, > 000 ,\HoIly system (direct). 
(Ex. 25, 000 J 

/ 40,000 \ jjvtlranlic ram to reservoir. 








East St. Louis . . . 


Mississippi River 


lEx. 800 
(?) 


Holly system. 



a " Ex." in this column means running expenses per annum. 



56 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

Cities and villages using surface water — Continued. 





Popula- 
tion in 
1890. 




"Waterworks. 


Place. 


Source. 




Cost o . 


System. 


Elgin 


17, 523 




i $173,622 
\Ex. 8,766 


\Pump to standpipe and direct. 






Evanston 


12. 762 


Lake Michigan 


< 124, 000 
\Ex. 7,300 


(•Holly system. 


Highland Park . . 


2,163 


do 


60, 000 


Dean pumps. 




Hillsboro 


2,500 


Group of springs 


( 18, 000 
\Ex. 400 


1 Elevated tank; alsodirectpres- 
/ sure; Worthington pump. 


Kankakee 


9,025 


Kankakee River 


100, 000 


Pump to standpipe. 


Lake Eorest 


1,203 


Lake Michigan 


(?) 






6 725 


Salt Creek 


40, 000 
r 50,000 
lEx. 2,000 


Do 


Litchfield 


5,811 




1 Reservoir on creek; Holly 
/ system. 




Metropolis City.. 


3, 593 


Ohio River 


40, 000 


Dean pumps. 




12, 000 


Mississippi River and 
artesian wells. 


/(?) 44,270 
tEx. 11, 878 


> Direct pressure. 




Morrison 


2,088 


Natural spring 


, 40, 000 
lEx. 2,500 


\ Reservoir ; direct pressure. 


Mount Vernon . . . 


3,233 


Creek reservoir 


(?) 


(?) 


Murphysboro 


3,880 


Rig Mud dy River 


i 60, 000 
lEx. 4,000 


(•Pump to standpipe. 




1,428 




6 5, 000 

4,000 

15, 000 

(?) 


Direct pressure. 

Pump to standpipe. 

Pump to reservoir. 

Reservoir in South Ottawa 
from springs. 




3,831 






1,566 






9,985 








Pecatonica 


1,059 


do 


(?) 


Pump from reservoir to stand- 










pipe. 




31, 494 


Mississippi River 


(?) 


Pump to filter gallery, then to 
mains and reservoir. 






1,789 


Springs in quarry 

Mississippi River 


Ex. 486 
35, 000 


Pump to standpipe. 

Holly system (direct pressure) ; 
standpipe for elevated part of 
city. 


Rock Island 


13,674 


Shelby ville 


3,162 


Kaskaskia River 


60, 000 


Pump to standpipe. 


Springfield 


24, 963 


Sangamon River 


(?) 


Gallery system from river, with 
direct pressure. 


Staunton 


2,209 


Dam on brook 


39, 000 


Pumped from reservoir on 
brook. 




11, 414 




(1) 


Pump to standpipe and direct i 
pressure. 












932 


Mississippi River 

Lake Michigan 


<1\ 


Pumped in open reservoir. 
(Dean pumps. 


Waukegan 


• 
4,915 


( 60, 000 
(Ex. 4,000 


Wilmington 


1,576 


Kankakee River 1 


10, 000 


Direct pressure (Holly sys- 
tem). 


Winnetka 


1,079 i 


Lake Michigan : 


(?) 


Pump to water tower. 


Yorkville 


375 


Springs in moraine 


6,000 


Gravity to reservoir. 



a "Ex." in this column means running expenses per annum. 
b Cost of pumping station, etc., exclusive of laying mains. 
c Derives water from about 200 artesian wells. 



leveret..] CITY AND VILLAGE SUPPLIES. 57 

SHALLOW WELLS IN VALLEYS. 

Several cities obtain their water supply from shallow wells which in 
some cases reach no lower than the alluvial deposits of the valley, 
though in other cases they pass iuto glacial deposits beneath the level 
of the stream bed. Those cities which obtain a supply from alluvium 
usually take the precaution to locate the waterworks wells above the 
city, where the danger from contamination will be at a minimum. 
Those whose wells enter glacial deposits have not in all cases taken 
this precaution. For example, Pekin has its waterworks in the lower 
end of the city. The wells are using water from a level below the Illi- 
nois River, and probably receive but little contamination from city 
sewage and filth. There is, however, no thick bed of clay or imper- 
vious stratum above the beds which yield the water. In Bloomington, 
also, the wells are located near the central part of the city, where con- 
tamination may occur, though the clay cover would seem to be a suffi- 
cient protection. At Peoria the waterworks are located above the city 
and the water-bearing bed is overlain by bowlder clay ; there seems, 
therefore, little danger of contamination at that point. 

The villages which have no waterworks, and hence derive their sup- 
ply from the wells located within the village boundaries, are, on the 
whole, more liable to suffer from water pollution than the towns having 
waterworks. The writer has noted instances where the village authori- 
ties have been so unwise as to put down wells at public-school buildings 
on the downstream side of the privy vaults, sometimes within 50 feet 
of the vaults. Such ignorance or rashness can not be too strongly 
condemned. 

In the following table, which embraces towns deriving water from 
shallow wells in valleys, the character of the cover is indicated : 



58 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



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LEVERKTT.] 



CITY AND VILLAGE SUPPLIES. 



59 



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THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 





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CITY AND VILLAGE SUPPLIES. 



61 



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62 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



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I.I'.VERETT. 



CITY AND VILLAGE SUPPLIES. 



63 



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64 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS, 



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SHALLOW WELLS IN ROCK. 



65 



In many instances the supply of water from the drift beds fur exceeds 
the demands of a city, and there is no need to look to any other source 
for a supply. Where small wells are inadequate to supply a city it has 
been found of advantage to excavate a large well for a reservoir, from 
the bottom of which several small wells are bored into the main water 
bed. The rise of water is usually such as to cause it to euter the reser- 
voir. In the following table the strength and head of some of the most 
important drift wells are shown: 

Strength and head of certain drift wells. 



Locality and owner. 



Beardstown waterworks. 

Bement waterworks 

Bloomington waterworks 
Champaign waterworks . 

Clinton waterworks 

Decatur private wells 

Delavan waterworks 

Dwight waterworks 

Elpaso waterworks 

Eureka, waterworks 

Galesburg waterworks .. 
Gibson City waterworks 

Havana waterworks 

Hoopstown private wells 
Keithsburg waterworks . 

Leroy waterworks 

Macon waterworks 

Maren go water works 

Maroa waterworks 

Mattoon waterworks .,.. 
Monticello waterworks . . 

Par's waterworks 

Paxton waterworks 

Pekin waterworks 

Peoria waterworks 

Rantoul waterworks 

Sandwich waterworks... 

Sullivan waterworks 

Washington waterworks 



Depth. 


Head 
below 
surface. 


Amount avail- 
able per Jay. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


Gallons. 


70 


20 


Unlimited. 


155 


25 


100, 000 


65 


25 


500, 000 


160 


(?) 


950, 000+ 


110 


20 


100,000+ 


100 


20 


(?) 


160 


90 


Unlimited. 


135 


5 


75, 000+ 


105 


40 


Unlimited. 


105 


60 


Unlimited. 


80 


30 


650, 000 


55 


20 


Unlimited. 


74 


25 


(?) 


80 


20 


150,000 + 


50 


25 


Unlimited. 


110 


50 


Unlimited. 


120 


60 


Unlimited. 


80 


18 


Unlimited. 


100 


60 


Unlimited. 


70 


(?) 


(?) 


212 


25 


(?) 


60 


20 


(?) 


150 


50 


Unlimited. 


80 


42 


3, 000, 000 + 


50 


10 


8, 000, 000+ 


80 


40 


(?) 


110 


28 


(?) 


100 


40 


(?) 


67 


42 


70, 000+ 



SHALLOW WELLS IN ROCK. 

A few villages obtain water from shallow wells in rock. This source 
of supply seems to be less reliable than that of wells in the drift. In 
the list of villages here given several having a population of 1,500 
to 2,000 or more have not yet constructed waterworks, and the delay 
is largely due to insufficiency of water from shallow wells. Only two 
villages in this list obtain a supply for waterworks from shallow wells, 
viz, Earlville and Wheaton. The contrast in this respect with wells 
obtaining water from drift is striking, there being a large number of 
the lai ter which have a waterworks system. 
6137- 5 



66 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



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LEVERETT.] 



SHALLOW WELLS IN ROCK. 



67 



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68 



THE WATER RESOURCES OP ILLINOIS. 



DEEP WELLS IN ROCK. 

About 75 towns in Illinois obtain a portion of their water from wells 
which have been carried, several hundred feet into the rock strata. 
With a few exceptions, the water is made use of in dwellings as well as 
for manufacturing purposes, and seldom has a disagreeable taste. It 
is probable that in many wells the water has been freshened and ren- 
dered more agreeable by the addition of water from the glacial deposits, 
for there are few wells in which the casing entirely shuts out such water. 
The degree of salinity of several water horizons apparently increases 
in passing from north to south, as is shown in the discussion of arte- 
sian wells. In consequence of this salinity, the use of such water is 
mainly in the north end of the State. There are very few wells in the 
eastern part of the State to the south of the Kankakee and Illinois 
rivers. In the western part, however, artesian wells are scattered 
widely and are in but few instances unfit for domestic use. 



Cities using water from deep wells. 



City. 



Aledo 

Amboy 

Arlington Heights 

Aurora, No. 1 



Aurora, No. 2. 
Aurora, No. 3 . 
Austin 



Barry 

Belvidere 

Canton, No. 1 

Canton, No. 2 

Carthage, No. 1. 
Carthage, No. 2. 

Collinsville 



Dekalb, No. 4 



Dixon 



Earlville 

East Dubuque 

Elgin (hospital) . 



Eairbury . 
Eorreston. 



Popula- 
tion in 
1890. 



1,601 
2,257 
1,424 



19, 688 

4,051 

1,354 

3,867 

} 5, 604 

} 1, 654 

3,498 

2,579 

5,161 

1,058 
1,069 



2,324 
1,118 



Depth. 



Feet. 
3,115 
2,000 



1 1,388 

\ 270 
12,255 
1,205 

2,510 

1, 932 
■2, 500 
-1,646 
•1, 700 
.1, 000 

573 

890 

1,640 
1,730 
1,810 
150 
940 
2,026 

2,002 
300 



Diam- 
eter. 



Inches. 
(?) 



4 

6 

5-3 



Capacity 

per 
minute. 



Gallons. 



350 



100+ 

200 
125 
260 

:?> 



300- 
525 



420 
(?) 



Head 

from 

surface. 



Feet. 

— 75 

3 



—135 

— 6 

— 30 
+ 14 

— 16 

— 20 

—120 

— 65 

8 



Waterworks. 



Cost, a 



Ex. $1,200 



- 320, 000 
■Ex. 10, 733 



13, 000 
Ex. 550 



10, 000 



21,500 

-Ex. 1,000 

30, 000 

.Ex. 1,470 

100, 000 



— 60 { 



25, 000 
Ex. 1,200 
I c 8, 000 

25 (to 



lEx. 



400 



System. 



Pump to standpipe. 
Incomplete. . 

[•Pump to standpipe. 



\Tank; pumped from 
/ well. 

Pump to standpipe. 

/Pump to standpipe, 
\ and direct. 

Pump to elevated 
tank. 



■Pump to standpipe. 

Pump to standpipe, 
and direct. 



Do. 



\Fairbanks, Morse & 
/ Co. 

\ Pump to water 
/ tower. 



a "Ex." in this column means running expenses per annum. 



LEVERETT.] 



DEEP WELLS IN ROCK. 
Cilie* using water from deep wells — Continued. 



69 



City. 



Fulton. 
Galena. 



Geneseo court- 
house. 

Geneva 

Hamilton Sanita- 
rium. 

Harvard (railroad 
well). 

Harvey 



Hennepin 

Henry 

Highland Park . 
Hinsdale 



Hoopeston . 



Ipava. 



J ackson ville 

Jacksonville, No. 2 

Jersey ville 

Joliet 



Kewanee . 



Kewanee, No. 2 . . 
Kewanee, No. 3... 

Lagrange 

Lasalle 

Lemont 

Lockport 



Macomb . 



Marseilles (275 
wells). 



Mendota 

Minonk 

Monmouth 

Morgan Park 

Morris 

Mount Carroll . . . 



Popula- 
tion in 
1890. 



2, 099 

5, 635 

3,182 

1,692 
1,301 



(?) 

574 
1,512 
2,163 
1,584 

1,911 

667 

|l2, 935 

3,207 

23, 264 



2,314 
9,855 
6,000 
2,449 

4,052 



2,210 

3,542 
2,316 
5,936 
1,027 
3,653 
1,836 



Depth. 



Feet. 

1,246 

1,509 

2, 250 

2,500 
680 



1,300 

800 
1,355 
2,200 

864 

350 

1,570 

2, 343 
.3, 028 

2,003 

1, 200 

■1,700 

1,480 

1,050 
1,050 
2,014 

502 
1,366 

(?) 
1,350 

100 
150 
200 

400 

1,755 

1,400 

1,046 

600 
2,502 



Diam- 
eter. 



Inches. 

(?) 



(?) 
(?) 



(?) 
4 

H 
5 

(?) 



6 

6-3 

(?) 



4 

4 

(?) 



(?) 
(?) 

(?) 



2± 

(?) 

6 

6-4 

(?) 

(?) 

5 



Capacity 
per 



Head 
from 



minute, surface 



Gallons. 

300 

166 

200 

(?) 
(?) 

100+ 



32 
150 

(?) 

175 



30 
500 



570 

125 

75 
50 

(?) 
200 

(?) 
(?) 

(?) 
6 

70 

100 

210 

(?) 

16 



Feel. 

60 
20 
85 

25 

(?) 
63 



50 
(?) 


(?) 

— 20 

— 16 

— 15 

— 30 



— 16 

—150 

—150 
—150 

(?) 

(?) 
60 

(?) 

— 55 



- 40 
-150 

- 60 

- 46 
12 

- 20 



"Waterworks. 



Cost, a 



$11,000 
Ex. 1,500 

(?) 
(?) 



9,000 

100, 000 
Ex. 5,800 



60, 000 

(?) 

50, 000 

Ex. 2,500 

3,100 

Ex. 365 

200, 000 

Ex. 7,000 

35, 000 
Ex. 1,800 

(?) 
Ex. 13, 500 

(?) 
Ex. 4,000 



System. 



(Elevated under- 
< ground reservoir; 
( pump from well. 

Pump direct from 
well. 

(?) 



Pump to tank. 



IPump to standpipe, 
/ and direct pressure. 



Dean pumps. 
Pump to standpipe. 

\Pump to reservoir, 
J then to standpipe. 

jPump to standpipe. 

>Pump to reservoir. 

\Gravity and pump 
/ direct. 

JHolley system. 



Ex 



(?) 
(?) 
(?) 
(?) 

30, 000 
. 1,500 



< 50, 000 
lEx. 3,280 

20, 000 
| (?) 
lEx. 4,000 

(?) 
i 32, 000 
lEx. 1,500 

(?) 



Direct, pressure. 



Pump to standpipe. 
Direct pressure. 

(?) 

(?) 

\Pump to standpipe, 
j and direct-pressure. 

Private wells. 

>Direct pressure. 

Pump to standpipe. 
JHolley system. 

(?) 
JHolley system. 

Pump to standpipe. 



a "Ex." in this column means running expenses per annum. 



70 



THE WATEB EESOUECES OF rLLrS'OIS. 
Cities using vcater from deep xcelh — Continued. 



Popula- Diam Capacity Head 

-T tionin Depth. " per " from - 

1 ■ I - . : minute, surface. 



:-7r — :r>- 



Costa 



= >; ir> _ 

Oakpark.Xo.2 

Ottawa (200 wells;. 9,985 



Polo 



L726 



Feet. 

: \ '--• 
VlSO 
400 d 

: ;: 

2.100 



Princeton 3,396 

Eiverside... 



Eiverside. Xo. 2. 
7. lz.: I 



1 



2,095 
L300 



Eockford, So. 2... 
Bockford, Xo.3... 

Enshville 

S - -_. _ : 



23.5S4 



1,300 

MM 



2,031 2.500 

" 1.430 



.:.- 



Seneca 

Sene: S 1 

Sparta 1.979 

Steeleville 401 

_ . ' • .- 



480 

312 



TTtica : m 

"Warsaw 2.721 

"Washington - - - ". 
Heights. 

"Wenona 1.053 

~~-iU-:- ... 1 : — 

"Wilmington 1, 576 

"Winnetka 1.079 

"Woodstock L6S3 



325 
i'. 
L308 

1.254 
ITS 
635 

1.900 

1.014 



1 . : " ; : 

6 

-" 

i; 
(?) 

34 



6 
6 

(!) 



(?) 



(?) 



(?) 

6 

! 

:. 

(?) 

■ 



Gallon*. 
500 
175 



Feet. 

— 12 $400,000 

— 12 



(?) 



320 



" 

250 
220 

(?) 

500 

(?) 

! 



900 

140 

200 



100 

: 
(?) 

500 



— a (?) 

_ r , 18,000 

— 70 {„ „ 

Ex 

— 72 ' 
(?) (?) 



(?) 



8 { 



-.'.'■ ".:: 

Ex. 17. 452 



(!) { 20 ' 00 ° 
Zz 720 



83 

(?) 

22 
— 80 

_ ' 



~" Ex. 3.000 

' (?) 
100 

(?) 



—125 

— 20 33,600 

46 10,000 

80,000 



(?) 



V. . 



l Air compressor and 
J "Worthington pmnps. 

Private -wells. 

(?) 
' ilorgan pumps. 

Pnmp to standpipe. 

Air compressor ; j 
ptunp to standpipe. 



xDirect pressure. 



jPump to standpipe. 
Pump to reservoir on 
2Tone. 



Do. 
Do. 

iPump to standpipe. 

Hydrants on weUs. 
Xatural pressure. 
(?) 

TTnder construction 

Pump to standpipe. 

Direct pressure. 

:— lizrz.- ; ■-!__ - 
to water tower. 

7- izz- -■: --:i1::;t. 



i this column means running expenses per annum. 



GHAPTEE VII. 
WATER SUPPLIES FOR RURAL DISTRICTS. 

GROUND-WATER WELLS. 

This term covers a class of shallow wells which derive much of their 
water from the ground immediately surrounding them, and which are 
directly dependent upon its saturation. These wells are to be distin- 
guished from wells that derive their supply from a distance, whether 
those wells be deep or shallow. Ordinarily, they are called surface or 
seep wells, and the local source of supply is thus recognized. 

In ground-water wells the level of the water is about the same as iu 
the bordering formations, and rises and falls with the fluctuations 
of the ground water, being near the top of the well in wet seasons, 
when the ground is saturated, but at a considerably lower depth in 
seasons of drought. The fluctuation of such wells has been carefully 
studied by Prof. F. H. King, of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment 
Station, at Madison, and the results appear as a bulletin of the Weather 
Bureau. 1 Professor King finds that the fluctuations are very complex. 
There are not only high and low stages due to the amount of rainfall, 
but changes due to soil temperature and to barometric pressure, and 
even slight oscillations caused by the passage of a heavily loaded rail- 
way train. The influence of rainfall is, however, the only one of the 
several modifying influences which greatly affects the value of a well, 
for the changes effected by soil temperature, barometric pressure, etc., 
amount to but few inches. 

The several deposits that form the immediate surface of the State 
include bowlder clay or till, loess, compact silts, sand, gravel, and the 
various rock formations with their several varieties of limestone, shale, 
and sandstone. The rock formations are throughout much of the State 
so deeply buried beneath the drift that they are not reached by ground- 
water wells. In the portions of the State where the rock formations 
are near the surface they are usually mantled by one or more of a 
variety of deposits, including the several classes of drift and silts of 
Glacial age, as well as residuary clays. But it is often the case that 
this mantle is too thin to hold sufficient water to supply a well, and 
then the rocks are drawn upon. If a well from the rock derives its 
supply by percolation from the soil on its immediate borders, it is as 

i Fluctuations in the level anil rate of movement of ground water, by Franklin H. King: V. S. 
Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau Bull. Xo. 5, Washington, D. C, 1892, 75 pp. 

71 



72 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

truly a ground- water well as one which obtains its supply without 
entering rock. Onlow ground, shallow wells in the rock, and also wells 
in the drift, may be fed from a distance, in which case they are not of 
this class. The ground water often saturates a rock formation in a wet 
season nearly or quite to the surface, and in such case the well, as in 
drift deposits, may become lowered to a depth of several feet in sea- 
sons of drought. The ground-water wells are therefore not limited to 
any one class of formations, but, on the contrary, they may be found 
in nearly every formation represented in the State. 

As the surface formations vary greatly in their capacity to furnish 
water to wells, the strength of wells may be expected to vary also. 
Wells in porous formations, as gravel or sand, or in sandstone, are, as 
a rule, far stronger than wells in compact deposits, such as bowlder clay, 
shale, or limestone. 

The bowlder clay shows, perhaps, greater variations in texture than 
any other of the formations mentioned. It ranges from a close- textured 
and oily clay without joints to a very coarse-textured deposit with a 
matrix nearly as pervious as water-bedded sand. In places, also, it is 
broken by frequent joints, through which water finds passage. This is 
more conspicuously the case in the older drift than in the newer. Such 
joints are usually filled with coarse material carried by the percolating 
streams, and thus have the appearance of veins of sand or fine gravel. 
Wells of considerable strength are found if water-bearing joints or 
veins are struck, while neighboring wells which miss such joints may 
be weak. Bowlder clay is also often intimately associated with deposits 
of sand or gravel. When such deposits are of limited extent, and com- 
pletely inclosed by bowlder clay, they are of value only in extending 
the reservoir beyond the limits of the well; but when of great extent 
they usually furnish strong and lasting wells. The value of a well 
may also depend largely upon its position. If on the brow of a bluff 
or the terrace of a stream, it may be subject to greater fluctuations 
than a well in similar formations on the uplands. Wells made in the 
saud or other porous deposits of a river terrace will often fluctuate as 
greatly as the stream, even though distant several miles from it. Con- 
spicuous examples occur on the Wabash, Illinois, and Mississippi ter- 
races. In general it may be said that fluctuation in the level of ground- 
water wells is proportioned to the nearness to a drainage line. But 
there are frequent exceptions, which occasion remark by the residents, 
and which may usually be attributed to structural conditions that 
prevent escape to the valleys. The valley naturally exhausts first the 
water contained in the formations on its immediate borders, and then 
lowers the water level at greater distance. Just so a well, as indicated 
by Professor King, drains the strata for but a short distance in wet 
seasons, but greatly extends its drainage area in seasons of drought. 

In Illinois bowlder clay is by far the most important source of sup- 
ply for ground- water wells. It is only in the portion of the State lying 



leverett.] GROUND-WATER WELLS. 73 

north of the Kankakee and the west -flowing portion of the Illinois that 
such wells are largely derived from sand and gravel, and ouly in a few 
counties in the southeastern part of the State are they derived to any 
great extent from sandstone and sandy shales. Limestones supply only 
small areas in northeastern Illinois, a limited district in the northwest- 
ern corner, and a narrow strip on the western border and in the south- 
ern part of the State; while Tertiary deposits of sand and gravel 
supply the extreme southern end of the State. 

On the accompanying map (PI. CX) the extent of these districts may 
be seen. The elevated driftless tracts of the northwest corner and the 
southern end of the State obtain wells almost entirely from the rock, 
the ouly exceptions being along valleys, where they are obtained from 
alluvium. Occasional weak wells are obtained, however, at the base of 
the loess, which mantles much of these districts to a depth of several 
feet. In these elevated districts, ground-water wells are not in such 
general use as in the remainder of the State. Cisterns are relied upon 
in southern Illinois, while wells 50 to 150 feet or more in depth, which 
are independent of the percolations of the immediate border, are numer- 
ous in northwestern Illinois. In each district, however, there are quite 
extensive areas where shallow wells may be obtained. 

In the sandstone district of southeastern Illinois wells frequently 
enter rock at a depth of 8 to 10 feet and obtain a water supply at depths 
of but 20 to 30 feet. The ouly notable exception is on the narrow 
ridges or mounds of rock, where they are deeper. In the limestone 
district bordering the Kankakee and Des Plaines and extending into 
southern Kendall County water is usually obtained at 25 to 40 feet. 
In the region of thin drift, in northwestern Illinois the majority of 
ground-water wells obtain their supply without entering the rock, at 
depths of 15 to 30 feet, but they have frequently to be supplemented 
by cisterns. 

There are very extensive districts in western and southern Illinois 
(indicated on the map, PI. CX) where wells for household use are mainly 
in thedrift, but the stock wells are frequently sunk into the rock. Wells 
of sufficient strength for household use, with a capacity of 1 to 5 barrels 
per day, may usually be obtained throughout these extensive districts 
at the convenient depths of 15 to 25 feet. The majority have probably 
a daily capacity of not more than 2 barrels, and many will become dry 
in seasons of extreme drought. It is very seldom, however, that the 
weakness of the wells causes serious inconvenience, as in almost every 
village a few wells may be found which will yield enough to supply sev- 
eral families. In farming districts where it is impracticable to puncture 
the earth with numerous borings and thus obtain the best shallow wells, 
it becomes necessary in many cases to sink deep wells. Such wells are 
usually put down to sufficient depth to derive their supply from wide 
areas, and are thus removed from the class of wells under discussion. 

With the exception of several small areas (represented on the map, 



74 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

PL OX) in which the drift is so thin that a part of the wells mnst be sunk 
into the rock, the northeastern part of Illinois, including, perhaps, one- 
third of the State, has a coating of drift so thick that it is a rare occur- 
rence for a well to penetrate it. The average thickness of the drift is 
estimated to be not less than 100 feet, while in places it exceeds 300 
feet. If ground- water wells prove too weak, the wells are sunk, not to 
rock, but to deep-lying and somewhat extensive water bearing beds, 
which are there inclosed in the drift. This region is variable in its 
advantages for ground-water wells. In the northern part, from the 
Kankakee and Illinois rivers northward, there is usually an adequate 
supply at convenient depths, because of the presence of sand and gravel 
in large amount. In the district south and east from the Illinois the 
ground- water wells are often weak, because of the very compact char- 
acter of the upper part of the bowlder clay. In this district, however, 
the bowlder clay is quite extensively underlain by beds of sand and 
gravel, which furnish strong wells at moderate depths — 50 to 150 feet. 
The effect of the droughts of 1894 and 1895 upon ground-water wells 
was more severe than that of any other drought since the settlement 
of the State. In many localities where such wells before yielded a 
sufficient supply a large number became entirely dry because the 
available ground water was exhausted. The depth to which exhaus- 
tion extended varied greatly. In some localities it affected only wells 
less than 20 feet in depth, while in others it included wells 30 feet or 
more in depth. The writer's studies in the season of 1895 were mainly 
in southeastern Iowa, a district underlain by a compact bowlder clay 
broken by frequent joints and differing but little from that of western 
Illinois. Wells 30 feet in depth were affected by the drought, and in 
consequence a large number have been extended to a depth of 50 feet 
or more. In its deeper portion the clay has been found to yield water 
iu about as great amount as is yielded by the upper portion in ordinary 
seasons. In southeastern Iowa many shallow wells are made by 
farmers at convenient places on the farm for watering stock. Such 
wells are often not in use for long periods because of a shifting of 
pasture fields to other parts of the farms. When the drought came on 
and the wells in use gave out, the farmers turned to such wells, expect- 
ing to find a supply of water, but in a great many instances the wells 
were found to be empty. It is therefore evident that the ground water 
which usually feeds such wells had been completely exhausted, at least 
to the depth of their bottoms. To obtain wells in new places it is 
necessary to sink to greater depths than formerly. What was observed 
by the writer in southeastern Iowa appears from correspondence to be 
generally true over till-covered areas in the entire district affected by 
the drought, which includes most of the central portion of the Missis- 
sippi Basin. Observations were made by the writer at many freshly 
dug wells in southeastern Iowa to determine to what depth the subsoil 
had become dry. The subsoil is a compact loess, such as requires tile 




d • S 2 j 



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fNJsii 



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80S 



■a— £ o 

H4tfiI«SI2Jfl?tfftf31 



3 4s lilll'llll Igl Nfllii ill 111 I llllii SI ; 



*?h 



Q 

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10 Bq 



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*1 m 




leverett.] GROUND-WATER "WELLS. 75 

draining. It was found generally to be dry to a depth of but 3 to 4 
feet, though the upper 10 feet were seldom sufficient^ moist to be 
easily spaded. As the loess is but 6 to 8 feet thick, the upper part of 
the underlying till is affected. The heavy rains which fell in Decem- 
ber, 1895, are reported to have moistened the ground only to a depth 
of 4 to G feet. At the present writing (April, 1896) they have not Lad 
an appreciable effect upon the wells. 

It is quite generally believed by the old settlers of Illinois and bor- 
dering States that the shallow wells are becoming permanently lower, 
but in the absence of statistics only the probable influence of settle- 
ment upon such wells can be considered. Much of Illinois, covered as 
it was with a heavy and tangled mass of prairie grass, had originally a 
poor surface drainage. In consequence the ground became completely 
saturated by the heavy rains. The effect of settlement has been to 
afford better surface drainage by opening ditches and removing ob- 
structions, and thus to lessen the amount of saturation. Cultivation 
of fields, leading as it usually does to a more rapid escape of water 
over the surface, also tends to lessen the degree of saturation. A 
somewhat reduced supply to shallow wells and a more frequent failure 
of such wells than in the days of early settlement are therefore to be 
expected. 

In Illinois the value of ground- water wells as a source of water sup- 
ply is vastly greater than that of all other wells combined. There are 
probably 20 such wells for every deep well in the State, there being on 
an average not fewer than 10 wells for every mile of the 56,000 square 
miles of land surface. The value of the wells is not so much in the 
quantity of water furnished as in its ready accessibility. The wells 
for household use probably yield an average of but 2 barrels per day, 
and these comprise fully 75 per cent of the wells, or not fewer than 
420,000. The stock wells of this class yield on an average perhaps 5 
barrels per day. The total supply from this source is therefore about 
840,000 barrels for household consumption and 700,000 barrels for 
stock, or about 1,500,000 barrels per day. About one-half the popnla 
tiou of the State is thus supplied with water for cooking and drinking, 
the other half being supplied mainly from Lake Michigan and from the 
streams; deep wells, as is indicated further on, furnishing the supply 
for but a small part of the population. 

The dependence upon ground- water wells being so great, it becomes 
a matter of much importance to insure favorable sanitary conditions. 
In this respect the people of Illinois are exceedingly careless. It is 
estimated that at least one-half the wells are so situated as to invite 
pollution. Many of them are placed at the side of the house where 
slops are emptied, and it is certain that a considerable percentage of 
such wells receive the slops without much filtering. In not a few cases 
the wells are so situated as to be within the range of drainage from 
privies. Nearly every farm furnishes an example of a well situated in 



76 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

the midst of the barnyard, where manure heaps readily drain into it, 
and these wells are used by the men when about the work of the barn. 
In not a few instances the writer has found the pollution of such wells 
to be so great as to be detectable by the odor and the color of the 
water, and the farmer often observes this condition and is yet too care- 
less to avoid using the water. 

A circular letter sent out by the writer to the principal villages and 
cities of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio contained the questions: "Are the 
shallow wills obtained below a bed of clay or impervious stratum of 
sufficient thickness to prevent contamination of the water from cess- 
pools or other sources? What is the thickness and what the character 
of such overlying beds'?" In at least 90 per cent of the replies the 
first question was answered in the affirmative, and yet in many cases 
the further statement is made that the impervious bed is but a few 
inches in thickness. From personal observation of the position of 
village wells in reference to cesspools the writer is convinced that the 
majority are liable to contamination from that source. It seems not 
at all remarkable, therefore, that typhoid fever so often becomes epi- 
demic both in the villages and in the country districts of Illinois. In 
the country districts there is certainly abundant space for the proper 
distribution of privies, wells, and barnyards, and everywhere it is pos- 
sible to greatly improve the relative position of privies and wells and 
to avoid throwing slops and refuse matter where a well will be apt to 
receive them. 

DRIFT WELLS WITH WIDE OR REMOTE ABSORPTION AREAS. 

In the wells just described the water supply is derived from the ground 
immediately surrounding the well mouth. In the class of wells now to 
be discussed the supply depends scarcely at all upon the ground around 
the well mouth. They are usually so deep that no water gains access 
to them from this source, though in some cases, as in valleys, they are 
shallow and are fed from the immediate borders as well as from a dis- 
tance. Commonly their supply is derived from beds of gravel or sand 
which are interbedded with the sheets of till. They are supposed to 
be fed, like the water supplies found in the rock strata, from surface 
outcrops of the water-tilled beds or through joints or other openings 
in the overlying drift sheet. Like artesian wells, they usually show a 
marked rise of water above the level at which water is struck, and 
in many cases they overflow. This class of wells is represented very 
widely in the State, and yet such wells are certain to be obtained in 
only a few localities, since the proper arrangement of drift beds for the 
concentration of water i n underground sheets does not prevail widely. 

The limits of districts where they may be found are not yet ascer- 
tained, and will be known only after a thorough testing by well borings. 
Perhaps the most extensive district in the State is found in Iroquois 
County, where, as shown below, flowing wells trom the drift abound. 



leverett.] DRIFT WELLS WITH WIDE ABSORPTION AREAS. 77 

The water- bearing beds here appear to derive their supply from the 
bordering moraine and other elevated tracts on the south and west. 
Another large district is found on tbe plain lying east of the Marseilles 
moraine and bordering the head of the Illinois River. In that district 
there is usually a marked rise in the water when found in sand or 
gravel below till, and there are occasional flowing wells. The source 
of the water is thought to be in the bordering moraine. Another large 
district where wells rise nearly to the surface and occasionally over- 
flow is found on the west side of Fox River from the Illinois River 
northward beyond the State line. In the southern part of tins district 
the wells are located on a plain with elevated moraines on the west 
border, from which the water supply is probably derived. In the 
northern part of the district the wells which show a marked rise are 
found in the narrow plains and low tracts between the morainic belts. 
Still another extensive district characterized by occasional flowing 
wells and by a general rise in water found in sand or gravel beds lies 
along the east slope of the Valparaiso moraine in Lake, Cook, and 
Dupage counties. Here also the supply appears to be from the incraine. 

The districts just mentioned are more uniformly favored with strong 
wells and with a marked rise of water than any other portions of the 
State. The drift beds of the moraines appear to dip toward and pass 
under the plains on their north and east borders, as is to be expected 
if we consider the method of drift deposition. 

In many places in central and eastern Illinois where the drift is very 
thick, wells of this class are found, but the chances of striking strong 
wells are fewer, and the rise of water is less uniform and on the whole 
less pronounced than in the districts just mentioned. Notwithstand- 
ing these uncertainties, there are hundreds of successful wells. Sev- 
eral cities in that region have found abundant supplies of water from 
the drift beds, among which are Peoria, Bloomington, Lincoln, Cham- 
paign, Mattoon, and Paris, each of which has a population of several 
thousand. By reference to the list of towns which obtain water sup- 
plies from the drift many others may be added. Such wells are in 
great demand by stock raisers, and are therefore rapidly coming into 
use in rural districts. 

In western Illinois the wells of this class are numerous, but there is 
even less certainty of finding a strong well than in central and eastern 
Illinois, for the drift contains on the whole a smaller proportion of sand 
and gravel and is a thinner deposit. 

In southern Illinois, from the Shelbyville moraine southward, this 
class of wells is to be found only in a few localities of small extent. 
They usually occur along the line of pre-glacial valleys, where the 
drift is exceptionally thick, and where it shows a tendency toward a 
sandy constitution. 

Wells of this class are of inestimable value to the many villages and 
cities where they may be obtained and to the stock raisers in the rural 
districts. The quality of water is the best to be found at any horizon, 



78 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

for there is freedom from the contamination to which surface water and 
water from shallow wells is liable. There are also very few wells in 
which the mineral ingredients are at all objectionable. These wells 
should displace the ground-water wells wherever practicable. 

The average depth of these wells probably does not exceed 100 feet, 
but even where it is necessary to sink a well to a depth of 200 or 300 
feet the excellent quality and large quantity of water usually justify the 
outlay. To wells of this class it is customary to attach a windmill, and 
thus dispense with the labor of drawing water by hand. The wells in 
the rural districts are ordinarily not more than 4 inches in diameter. 
Unless they will stand a test of 4 gallons per minute they are consid- 
ered too weak to justify the erection of a windmill. But there is 
scarcely a township of the district included by the Shelby ville moraine, 
except where drift deposits are thin, which does not already show sev- 
eral of these strong wells with windmill attached; and in the most 
favored districts, as outlined above, there is scarcely a square mile 
without its strong well and windmill pump. In western Illinois the 
number of strong wells is nearly as great as in the district included by 
that moraine, but there is a large percentage which have been extended 
into the rock. 

FLOWING WELLS FROM THE DRIFT. 
GENERAL STATEMENT. 

In a few small areas the drift has furnished an overflow of water 
from wells. These areas are usually on the slopes of moraines or along 
valleys in which there is a thick filling of drift. The water appears to 
be derived from the moraines, or, in the case of valley wells, from the 
higher ground bordering the valley. This class of wells differs from 
the class just considered only in the matter of overflowing. The rise 
of water is in many cases no greater than in wells which do not over- 
flow. The overflow is due to the low altitude of the surface rather than 
to exceptionally great rise of water. 

The principal districts with this class of wells are shown on the 
artesian-well map (PI. OXIII). The largest district characterized by 
this class of flowing wells is found in a drift basin in Iroquois County 
and the border portions of adjacent counties in eastern Illinois. It com- 
prises an area of at least 500 square miles. A small district is found 
in northern Vermilion County, near the Middle Fork of Vermilion 
Eiver. There are also small districts near Plattville, in Kendall 
County; near Earlville, in northern Lasalle County, and adjacent 
portions of Lee and Dekalb counties; near Sycamore, in northern 
Dekalb County; near Palatine, in northern Cook County, and along 
Salt Creek Valley, in northern Cook and eastern Dupage counties. 
A few flowing wells are found also along the North Fork of Chicago 
Eiver, in northern Cook County and southern Lake County. Flowing 



leverett.] FLOWING WELLS FROM THE DRIFT. 79 

wells are aiso common in the low-lying tracts among moraines of Lake, 
McHenry, and Kane counties. The combined area of all these small 
districts will probably not greatly exceed that of the Iroqnois district 
(500 square miles). Flowing wells are frequently obtained on the 
Sangamon and its tributaries, especially those which head within the 
limits of the Shelbyville moraine, among which may be mentioned 
Vermilion, Mackinaw, Kaskaskia, and Embarras rivers. These valleys 
are not, however, generally favorable localities for such wells. 

It will be observed that all the flowing-well districts above men- 
tioned lie within the limits of the Shelbyville moraine, and that the 
scattering wells are mainly to be found within the same limits. In the 
outlying portion of the State these wells are confined to a few valleys, 
and are seldom in areas of sufficient size to merit mention. 

FLO WING- WELL DISTRICT OF IROQUOIS AND ADJOINING COUNTIES. 

The northern boundary of this district, from Watseka, in Iroquois 
County, to Piper City, in Ford County, lies parallel to and about 3 
miles distant from the north side of the Toledo, Peoria and Western 
Railway. On the west and south the boundary lies near the border 
between the plain and the moraiuic tract southwest of it. It passes 
from Piper City through Thawville and Bulkley to the extreme south- 
ern part of Iroquois County, thence up Fountain Creek Valley a short 
distance into Vermilion County, and thence northeast to within 2 miles 
of "Wellington, Iroquois County. The eastern boundary has a some- 
what sinuous course, following approximately the line of the Chicago 
and Eastern Illinois Eailroad from the vicinity of Wellington to 
Watseka. 

Aside from the main belt, there is a narrow belt along the Vermilion 
marsh north of Piper City, where a few flowing wells have been obtained. 
There is also a narrow flowing-well district aloug the Iroquois River 
from Sugar Island, in northern Iroquois County, 111., up to Rensselaer, 
Ind. Similar narrow belts extend for several miles up the tributaries 
of the Iroquois in northern Iroquois County. In these narrow belts 
along the Iroquois and its tributaries the wells, as a rule, overflow at 
the surface only when obtained on the low bottom, which is subject to 
inundation when the sti^eams are high. It is probable that wells along 
the upper portion of the Iroquois derive water from a source independ- 
ent of that which supplies the main district. 

In the midst of the main district, leading from Milford westward 
past Onarga, there is an undulatory belt having a width of 3 miles or 
more where the water fails to reach the surface by a few feet. 

In the main well district two serious elements of uncertainty occur: 
First, the uncertainty of striking a water-bearing bed at any given 
depth, for the beds are usually thin and subject to interruptions; 
second, the danger of the surface elevation being too great, since 



80 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

where the flows are successful the water rises to a height of but a few 
feet above the surface. 

The first element of uncertainty has proved in many cases to be of 
little consequence, since the artesian water is found at not less than 
three different levels, and it is rare that all three water-bearing beds 
are absent in any one boring. It is often the case, however, that only 
very weak flows are obtained. 

The second element of uncertainty necessarily affects much of the 
district, since a rise of ground of but 5 to 10 feet often makes a flow 
impossible, even in places where veins are struck from which water 
rises in great volume, there being insufficient head to reach the sur- 
face. The uncertainty is very great all along the borders of the main 
district and in quite an extensive tract south and east of Gilman. 

Outside of the territory described above as the flowing- well district 
there is over a considerable tract a rise of water nearly to the surface. 
In the sand-covered belt north of the Iroquois Eiver water rises to 
within 10 to 15 feet of the surface, except on high points near the 
border of the Erie-Saginaw moraine. On the opposite side of the Iro- 
quois, between the flowing-well district and the Marseilles moraine, 
water rises to within 25 feet of the surface on the higher portions of 
the plain and almost flows in low ground near the creeks. East from 
the flowing-well district as far as the Indiana line there is considerable 
rise of water in deep wells. 

The only member of the drift series within this flowing-well district 
which possesses anything like uniformity of distribution and thickness 
is a sheet of slightly pebbly, compact blue clay, which immediately 
underlies the yellow clay subsoil and overlies the first water bed from 
which flows are obtained. This blue clay is 50 to 75 feet in thickness. 
Beneath it, to a depth of 50 to 100 feet farther, are alternations of sand 
or gravel in thin beds with beds of compact stony clay of considerable 
thickness. These beds of sand and gravel yield the artesian water. 
In much of the district a bed of buried peat is found associated with 
the first water-bearing sand, showing that it was a marshy land surface 
prior to the deposition of the overlying blue clay. In a few places 
beds of peat have been found at two levels in a single well. 



LEVEHETT. ] 



FLOWING WKLLS FROM THE DRIFT, 



81 



Table showing depths to water-hearing strata and height, to which water will rise above 

surface. 



Locality. 


Depth. 
Feet. 


Heisrlit above 
surface. 






Feet. 


East side of Vermilion marsh. . 




60 


4- 5 


"West side of Vermilion marsh, 


L vein at 


75 


1 


Piper City, 1 vein at 




65 


1- 2 


South of Piper citv 




9- 23 


1-2 


Near county line southeast of 


[First vein 


26- 40 


1- 2 


Piper City. 


(Second vein .. 


70- 87 


2- 4 




(First vein 

(Second vein .. 


40- 45 
75 


Surface. 

1- 2 




Near Lahogne 




70- 80 
70-165 
80-120 


10 
1- 4 
1- 6 


G'lman 


Near Crescent City 


Spring" Creek east of Oilman 


100-120 


(?) 

(?) 


Spring Creek southeast of Onarga 


50- 90 


Shavetail Slough 




95-100 


Surface. 


In and near Watseka 


(First vein 

{Second vein .. 


85- 90 
160-165 


1- 6 
1- 6 




(First vein 


40 


2- 4 


Ash Grove and vicinity 


I Second vein .. 


55 


2- 4 




(Third vein . .. 


70- 75 


2- 4 


Near Cissna Park . 




48- 55 
60- 70 


4- 8 
9 


Near Clayton 




[First vein 


50- 55 


Surface. 


Fountain Creek south of Claytor 


< Second vein .. 


75- 80 


1- 2 




(Third vein . . . 


135-140 


3- 4 


Near Bulkley 


(First vein 

(Second vein .. 


40- 50 
80-110 


3- 6 
3- 6 



The rate of flow varies from a feeble stream, amounting to but 1 to 

2 gallons per minute, to a stream flowing GO or more gallons per minute. 
Many of the wells flow only 4 or 5 gallons per minute. In most of the 
wells the stream has a gentile flow, though occasionally it issues from 
the pipes with considerable force, but even in such instances the water 
can be made to rise only a few feet above the height at which it pours 
forth rapidly. 

The city of Watseka, with a population of over 2,000, obtains a sup- 
ply for its waterworks from a single well, though pumps are necessary 
to obtain an adequate supply. In nearly every village of the district 
wells may be found having sufficient strength to supply a waterworks 
system. 

In many of the wells a loss of bead has been reported amounting to 

3 to 4 feet, and occasionally to as much as S to 10 feet, in which event 

6137 6 



82 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

they have ceased to flow. A few cases of stoppage of flow occur 
because of the boring of a well in the vicinity at a lower level, the lat- 
ter well being sufficiently strong to draw off the head. After a series 
of dry years, such as have just been experienced, the head appears to 
have been affected. At Watseka it has decreased about 7 feet in the 
past few years,, so that flows are now obtained only in the lower parts 
of the town. Many wells show a loss of head amounting to a foot or 
more, and a still larger number are reported to show a decrease in the 
rate of flow. It is frequently observed that several wells in close prox- 
imity have a tendency to lessen the average rate of flow, and sometimes 
when a strong well has been obtained in the vicinity of several weak 
ones the weak wells decrease in flow or stop entirely. These phenom- 
ena show that there is a limit to the water supply, and that if the whole 
region were to be honeycombed with wells the aggregate amount of 
flow would not increase at anything like the ratio of increase in the 
number of the wells. 

In some cases the wells have ce *sed flowing because they have become 
choked with sand. Instances occur where wells have thrown out great 
quantities of sand and then stopped flowing. It is thought that in such 
cases the overlying beds may have settled down and shut off the flow, 
since this phenomenon occurs only where the water bearing sand bed 
is very thin, and since it is often the case that borings made within a 
few rods of a well that has stopped flowing will open a fresh flow. 

It has been suggested by Mr. Daniel W. Mead ' that these wells have 
their source in the St. Peter sandstone, which he supposes to be cov- 
ered in this region only by the drift deposits. 

No evidence of such a relationship of the sandstone to the drift has 
been found so far as the writer is aware. Furthermore, as shown below, 
the supply is from the south instead of the north. 

It is generally supposed by the residents of the district that the 
source is from the great marshes along the Kankakee, which are much 
of the year covered with water. This can not be the case, however, 
since the altitude of the marshes is lower than the head of water at the 
wells. 

The source of supply is, without doubt, from the elevated country 
bordering the well district on the south and west. The gathering 
ground may include not only the moraine immediately bordering the 
district but also a plain of considerable elevation lying between it and 
another moraine a few miles to the southwest. This plain is underlain 
in places by gravel or material which is quickly absorbent of water, 
and since the ridge which lies between it and the artesian-well district 
appears to have been pushed out upon the plain tracts it seems not 
improbable that the water which falls on the plain may pass north- 
ward beneath the ridge along sand or gravel sheets. It appears from 
borings in the moraine (as indicated further on) that it is composed 



1 Hydrography of Illinois, p. 21. 



LEVERETT.] 



FLOWING WELLS FROM THE DRIFT. 



83 



largely of till. Should this be the case the somewhat elevated plain 
southwest of it is probably the chief absorbing area. 

The following table of surface elevatious and water levels shows an 
increase in head in passing southward toward this elevated country. 
The elevations are taken from the profile of the Illinois Central Bail- 
way. The water levels in 1S95 are slightly lower than shown in this 
table, but the difference seldom exceeds 5 feet. 

Surface elevations and water levels in Iroquois and adjoining counties. 



Station. 



Ashkum 

Danforth 

Oilman 

Onarga 

Ridgeville 

Spriug Creek Station 

Thawville 

Bulkley 



Distance 

from 
Ashkum. 



Miles. 



4 

7 

11 

13 

14 

17 

20 



Elevation 
above tide. 



Feet. 
679 

667 
666 
. 689 
681 
677 
699 
713 



Water 
level 

above 
tide. 



Feet. 
657 
660 
667 
674 
681 
682 
697 
697 



It appears from this table that there is an increase of head toward 
the south of nearly 2 feet per mile. An east-to-west line shows a simi- 
lar rise toward the moraine on the west. Extending the comparisons 
east from Gilman, it is seen that at Watseka, 12 to 13 miles distant and 
at an elevation 20 to 25 feet lower than at Gilman, water rises only 2 to 
4 feet above the surface, or about the same as at Gilman, while at Iro- 
quois village, 8 to 9 miles farther east, it rises only to the flood-plain of 
the Iroquois River, which is 10 to 15 feet lower than the height at which 
it will flow at Watseka. Upon passing to the east from Iroquois into 
western Indiana, however, there appears to be an eastward rise in the 
head, a fact which indicates that the supply in that region is not from 
the southwest, as in the main district, but more probably from the 
sandy belt around the head of the Iroquois River. 

It should perhaps be stated that the rock floor of this flowing-well 
district stands higher on its north and east borders than beneath the 
well district, the difference in altitude being 150 feet or more. This 
rise would cause an upward bending of the drift beds on the border of 
the district. This bending of the beds may so interrupt the passage of 
water down the slope toward the northeast as to improve the conditions 
for obtaining a flow. The great loss of head in that direction seems, 
however, to indicate that there is a fair escape for waters. 

So far as the writer is aware, no chemical analyses of the water from 
any of these wells have been made. The waters are chalybeate and 
have laxative properties. They contain so little lime that it is scarcely 



84 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

necessary to " break" the water for laundry purposes. In this respect 
the deep wells are in striking contrast with the shallow wells that 
obtain water in or above the blue clay, the latter being strongly im- 
pregnated with lime. It is claimed for these waters that no bad 
effects result from drinking large quantities, where an equal amount 
of hard water from the shallow wells would be injurious. It is also said 
that cattle, horses, and other stock prefer the water from flowing wells 
and keep in better condition when using it than when they drink the 
hard water of the shallow wells. 

The temperature of several of the wells was taken during the autumn 
months and was found to be quite uniform at about 50° F. 

Along the moraine southwest of this district several deep borings 
have been made for water between Paxton and Roberts, which usually 
penetrate a large amount of blue till, beneath which sand of consider- 
able depth is often found. The water rises in the wells but does not 
overflow because of the high altitude of the ridge. A well in sec. 11, 
T. 24, R. 9 E., reported by George Leeper, of Paxton, penetrates 98 
feet of pebbly clay, then 85 feet of sand, and the water rises 130 feet 
in the well. A well in sec. 2, T. 24, R. 9 E., reported by Mr. Flora, of 
Roberts, penetrates 120 feet of clay, then 80 feet of sand; the height 
to which water rises was not ascertained, though it comes nearly up to 
the surface. A well in sec. 7, T.25, R. 9 E., also reported by Mr. Flora, 
penetrates 190 feet of pebbly clay, then 20 feet of sand, and the water 
rises 150 feet. A well in sec. 31, T. 26, R. 9 E., reported by Mr. Flora, 
penetrates clay 130 feet, then sand 110 feet, and the water rises 170 
feet or to within 70 feet of the surface. 

PLOWING WELLS IN NORTHERN VERMILION COUNTY. 

Near Marysville, in northern Vermilion County, on a low plain be- 
tween drift ridges, several flowing wells have been obtained. A number 
of these wells were made by Mr. George Piatt, a well driller, formerly 
residing at Watseka. Mr. Piatt kept no records of individual wells, 
but furnished the following general statement: 

There are three veins of artesian water within 150 feet of the surface, 
the first being at a depth of 80 to i)0 feet, the second at about 125 feet, 
and the third at 140 to 150 feet. The water will rise 8 to 10 feet or more 
above the surface, and some of the wells have a flow of several gallons 
per minute. The following section illustrates the character of the drift 
penetrated: 

Representative section near Marysville, Vermilion County, III. 

Feet. 

1. Yellow pebbly clay 10-12 

2. Blue clay, soft like putty, and containing few pebbles 60-70 

3. Hard, stony clay 3 

4. Sand and gravel with artesian water 6-10 

5. A hard, partially cemented sandy clay 25-30 

6. Sand and gravel with artesian water 5 

7. Hard, partially cemented sandy clay 15-20 

8. Sand and gravel with artesian water Several. 

Depth 140-150 



leverett.) FLOWING "WELLS FROM THE DRIFT. 85 

EARLVILLE FLOWING- WELL DISTRICT. 

Near Earlville, in northern Lasalle and southwestern Dekalb coun- 
ties, there is a tract including an area of 30 to 40 square miles in which 
flowing wells have been obtained. They are found in the southeastern 
part of T. 36, E. 2 E., the northwestern part of T. 30, E. 3 E., and the 
southern part of T. 37, E. 3 E. 

The wells are seldom more than 50 feet in depth, and a few are scarcely 
20 feet. They vary in depth when near together, but this is to be ac- 
counted for in part, though not entirely, by the greater depth to which 
some of them were sunk into the sand from which the water flows. In 
no instance does water rise more than 10 feet above the surface, and in 
most cases it rises only 2 to 3 feet. Where the rise is more than 3 feet 
the wells are favored by being near streams where there is a lower 
level than on the plain. In some instances there are singular varia- 
tions within short distances in the absolute height to which water rises. 
A well at Charles Pratt's residence, in sec. 5, T. 36, E. 3 E., falls short 
6 feet of flowing, but a well a few rods from his house on ground 3 feet 
above the level of the other well rises 1 to 2 feet above the surface. It 
seems scarcely probable that the two wells have the same source of 
supply. During seasons of excessive drought nearly all the wells in 
this district are said to show a lowering of head of a foot or more. 

Water will not flow at Earlville, although the level at Big Indian 
Creek is several feet lower than in section of the same township, where 
water rises 10 feet above the surface. 

It seems probable that the gathering ground for the water is to be 
found in a sandy tract north of the well district on the inner slope of 
the moraine. The water which permeates these porous formations 
would naturally seek outlet in the direction of surface slope unless 
checked by some obstruction. This course would take it directly beneath 
the flowing-well district, and the conditions at Earlville suggest the 
nature of the probable obstruction to the southeastward passage of 
these subterranean streams. There is here a considerable rise in the 
rock strata above their level in the flowing- well district. The drift beds 
sinking into the concavity north of this ledge would produce such an 
arrangement of the drift strata as would admit the water to the lower 
beds beneath the flowing- well district, but at the same time not permit 
it to have adequate outlet over the arching portion at Earlville. Hence, 
borings made in the region where the water has accumulated, even 
though at a higher level than the surface near Earlville, afford a freer 
outlet for the water than its subterrauean course. 

These flowing w^ells usually penetrate the following series of drift 
beds: (1) Soil, (2) yellow pebbly clay, (3) blue bowlder clay, (I) sand 
or gravel. Occasionally a well penetrates no blue clay, being in pebbly 
yellow clay to the water-bearing stratum. In some of the shallower 
wells water is obtained Irom sand and gravel between the yellow and 



86 THE WATER EESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

blue clays. In a few borings, instead of yellow clay there is sand or 
gravel, underlain by blue clay, beneath which water is obtained. 

The water in nearly all the wells is chalybeate, and is considered 
very wholesome. 

The temperature of the wells was taken in the month of September, 
and in nearly every well it was about 50° F. The flow is very weak in 
the majority of cases, being scarcely 1 barrel per hour, but a few wells 
near Big Indian Creek flow several gallons per minute. 

Southeast from Earlville about 3 miles, in the valley of Big Indian 
Creek, are two flowing wells which are only 12 to 15 feet in depth and 
scarcely differ from the springs abounding along the creek. Both the 
wells and the springs are slightly chalybeate. 

AIT SABLE CREEK FLOWING WELLS AND SPRINGS. 

In the vicinity of Plattville, in southern Kendall County, there are 
several flowing wells. Those which flow are confined to the low ground 
along the creek, but there is a rise of water nearly to the surface on 
much of the plain lying east of the Marseilles moraine in Kendall and 
Grundy counties. 

The majority of the wells are but 30 to 45 feet in depth, and pene- 
trate about 30 feet of till before entering the water-bearing sand bed. 
The absorption area is apparently the slope of the moraine to the north- 
west of the wells, there being a tract of several square miles in which 
the drift is somewhat sandy and sufficiently porous to absorb much 
water. The head at Plattville is about 20 feet above the level of Au 
Sable Creek bed, or not far from the level of the village, 000 feet above 
tide (Rolfe). The temperature of several of these wells was taken in 
the month of August aud found to be 48° to 50° F. The water is slightly 
chalybeate. One of the wells belonging to Daniel Piatt was found to 
have a flow of 10 gallons per minute from an aperture with one-half 
inch diameter. The pipe had a diameter of 2 inches, and the flow is 
said to be sufficiently strong to fill it with a rapid stream. 

Before any wells had been sunk at Plattville this portion of the 
valley of Au Sable Creek had a group of springs of local reputation, 
known as the "Au Sable Springs." They appear for more than a mile 
from a point one-half mile above Plattville to about the same distance 
below the village. They have apparently the same source as the flow- 
ing wells, and the water probably rises through the till which overlies 
the water bed. 

About 1£ miles east of Plattville a flowing well was obtained at a 
depth of 80 feet after penetrating about 40 feet of rock. This water 
has a sulphurous taste. Its source is not apparent. 

At Millington, about 10 miles west from Plattville, in the valley of 
Fox River, shallow flowing wells are obtained from the St. Peter sand- 
stone, and similar wells are obtained at Marseilles, as shown further 
on. In these cases the source of water is probably from the outcrops 
of the sandstone rather than from the drift. 



leveeett.] FLOWING WELLS FROM THE DRIFT. 87 

TALATINE FLOWING-WELL DISTRICT. 

In northern Cook County there is a small district, having a radius of 
about 2 miles, with the village of Palatine as a center, where flowing 
wells are obtained. In 1887 there were 8 of these wells in the village 
of Palatine, and at least 25 in the township. The writer has obtained 
no later information concerning this district. The depth of the wells 
ranges from 70 to 170 feet, the majority of them being from 125 to 170 
feet in depth. Occasionally a well has struck two or more veins from 
which water will flow, though usually there is but one vein. In the 
village of Palatine the water rises from the three strongest wells about 
10 feet above the level of the track at the depot. These wells do not 
obtain water from exactly the same depth, but are among the deepest 
wells in the village. The head is lower in the shallow wells, water 
rising in some cases but about 5 feet above the level of the depot. It 
was not determined to what height water rises in wells outside the 
village as compared with those in the village, since they are scattered 
widely, and no levelings have been made between the wells. The rate 
of discharge varies greatly even in the village of Palatine. The 
strongest well, which is at the cheese factory, flows GO gallons per 
minute. The other wells in the village flow but 1 to G gallons per min- 
ute, and the wells at the farmhouses outside the village seldom flow 
more than 5 gallons per minute. The water is slightly chalybeate in 
every well which was examined, and varies greatly in hardness in the 
different wells. All the water, however, is so hard that it is necessary 
to " break" it before using it for laundry purposes. 

There are many deep wells in the vicinity of Palatine which do not 
flow even when the surface level is lower than that at the flowing wells. 
The water supply is apparently from veins whose collecting areas .vary 
in altitude; otherwise the water level would be more uniform. 

The collecting area is thought to be in the portion of the moraine 
west and north of Palatine. The moraine west of Palatine attains an 
altitude of 100 to 120 feet above the station, and the crest of the 
moraine in Lake County, a few miles to the north, has nearly as great 
an altitude. The superficial drainage is very poor north of Palatine, 
on the divide between Salt Creek and Buffalo Creek, and it is also 
poor west of Palatine, for there is no stream nearer than Fox River to 
receive its waters. Consequently, much of the water must evaporate 
or find outlet by underground passages. There seems to be a sufficient 
collecting area and also a sufficient variation in altitude to account for 
the wells and their different water levels. 

SALT CREEK FLOWING-WELL DISTRICT. 

South of Palatine Township, along Salt Creek and its tributaries, 
flowing wells are frequently obtained. They differ but little from 
springs which occur along the creek. There are at least G such wells 
along a tributary of Salt Creek in the eastern part of Schaumburg 



88 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

Township (T. 41, E. 10 E.), none of which exceed 45 feet in depth. 
Those along Salt Greek, from Plum Grove, in southern Palatine Town- 
ship, to the latitude of Elmhurst, in York Township, seldom exceed 30 
feet in depth. In Itasca there are a few flowing wells along a tribu- 
tary of Salt Creek. Of these, the deepest one is bat 28 feet. The 
water here will not rise more than 3 feet above the bed of the creek. 
This level is 65 to 70 feet lower than the level of the flowing wells in 
Palatine. 

PARMER CITY WATERWORKS WELL. 

At Farmer Gity, in northeastern Dewitt Gounty, some very strong 
flowing wells have been obtained from the drift. The city well, which 
supplies the waterworks, is reported to furuish a rapid flow, filling an 
8-inch pipe at a level 3 feet above the surface. The well is 17(3 feet in 
depth, and has maintained its strong flow from the time it was made, 
in 1892. 1 The water is described as " soft, with iron," and it is very 
wholesome 

SYCAMORE WATERWORKS WELLS. 

The city of Sycamore, the county seat of Dekalb County, is supplied 
by flowing wells 65 feet in depth. The superintendent of waterworks, 
Mr. Pike, has estimated the force of the current to be 90 feet per minute 
from a 2-inch pipe at a level 6 feet above the surface. The water will 
ris.e but a few feet higher. The flowing wells cau be obtained only on 
low ground near the Kishwaukee. 

WELLS OF MODERATE DEPTH IN ROCK. 

In portions of the State where the drift does not furnish an abun- 
dance of water wells are frequently sunk into the rock to a moderate 
depth. They are usually drilled, and have a diameter of about 4 inches. 
Usually these wells find sufficient water to justify the erection of a 
windmill, the yield being at least 3 to 4 gallons per minute and in some 
cases many times that amount. In this class of wells the head is sel- 
dom such as to cause an overflow, and is usually but a few feet above 
the level at which water is struck. 

The data concerning this class of wells (set forth in the following 
table) have been mainly obtained in response to the circular of inquiry 
concerning city water supply, and in answer to the two questions: "At 
what depth is water most abundant in the wells'?" and "What range 
in depth have the wells?" The replies to these questions are given in 
the majority of the schedules, and it appears that but a small part of 
the towns have found their most abundant supply of water from this 
class of wells. In many cases, however, no tests have been made, for 
the shallow wells have proved sufficient for ordinary demands. The 
conditions in neighboring rural districts, as well as in villages, are 
represented. 



1 The writer visited this well in June, 1896, and found that its head had become lowered to about 5 
feet below the surface. 



levkbett.) WELLS OF MODERATE DEPTH IN ROCK. 

Table of wells from rock at moderate depths. 



89 



Locality. 



Amboy 

Anna and vicinity ... 

Ashley 

Augusta and vicinity 

Barry 

Cairo 

Casey 

Chenoa 

Columbia 

Dallas City 

Earlville 

Equality 

Erie and vicinity 

Fairfield and vicinity 

Forreston 

Freeport 

Gardner coal shafts. . 

Geneseo 

Golconda 

Hutsonville 

Ipava and vicinity... 

Kankakee 

Kinmundy 

Knoxvillo 

Lawrenceville 

Lebanon and vicinity 

McLeansboro 

Marseilles (artesian) . 

Martinsville 

Mendon 

Mendota 

Millington (artesian) 

Mornence 

Morrison 

Mount C arm el 

Mount Sterling 

Nauvoo 

Nashville 

Neoga and vicinity. . 

Oakland 

Oregon 

Pecatonica 



Best water 
horizon. 


Deepest 
wells. 


Feet. 


Feet. 


20 


(?) 


40 


60 


33 


40 


60 


265 


65 


90 


70 


200 


25 


60 


150 


150 


30 


45 


30 


150 


150 


150 


30 


40 


30 


30 


50 to 70 


300 


50 and 300 


300 


Variable. 


P0 


100 




120 




30 to 40 


40 


30 


30 


100 


150 


Variable. 


70 


20 


30 


20 to 40 


40 


60 


60 


150 to 200 


200 


Variable. 


160 


150 


200 


Variable. 


80 


70 and 200 


400 


175 to 400 


400 


50 


70 


30 


80 


35 and 75 


75 


Variable. 


40 


Variable. 


75 


Variable. 


40 


Variable. 


45 


(?) 


285 


120 


120 


30 


200 


80 to 125 


125 



90 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

Table of wells from, rock at moderate depths — Continued. 



Locality. 


Best water 
horizon. 


Deepest 
veils. 


Quincy 


Feet. 

90 to 200 

40 

30 to 40 

35 

30 

50 

80 

Variable. 

150 to 200 

50 


Feet. 

200 


Redbud (artesian ) 


Rochelle 


60 


Sterling ( artesian ) 


Virden 


50 

60 
125 

80 
200 

50 


Vienna 


Warren 


Waterloo 


Wbeaton and vicinity 


Whitehall 





CHAPTER VIII. 

ARTESIAN AVEEXS. 

GENERAL STATEMENT. 

Since the essential conditions for obtaining artesian wells have been 
discussed at some length by Prof. T. C. Chamberlin in a report of this 
Survey, 1 only a brief outline of these conditions is here attempted. 
That report now being out of print and perhaps not accessible to every- 
one interested in the subject, reference is also made to Johnson's 
Cyclopaedia, which contains a brief discussion of artesian- well con- 
ditions by Mr. F. H. Jewell. 2 A similar discussion, by Mr. Eobert T. 
Hill, appears in a recent number of the Popular Science Monthly. 3 

The essential conditions for artesian wells are: (1) A suitable expo- 
sure of a porous rock in a humid region, i. e., a favorable absorbing 
area; (2) the extension of this porous bed from the absorbing area out 
underneath regions having a lower altitude, i. e., a favorable transmit- 
ting area ; (3) a partial or full obstruction to the escape of the waters at 




Fig. 66. — Section illustrating' the aid afforded by a high water-surface between the fountain head 
and the well. (After T. C. Chamberlin ; see Fifth Ann. Rept. TJ. S. Geol. Survey, fig. 15, p. 140.) 

a lower level than the absorbing ai*ea. The porous rock is usually con- 
fined between beds which are less porous and which act as a partial or 
complete obstruction to the escape of the waters. It is not necessary, 
however, that these beds should be perfectly water-tight; indeed, such 
is rarely the case. It is only necessary that the confining beds should 
be such as to preveut most of the water from escaping. 

In some cases the water contained in semiporous beds overlying the 
porous rock aids in preventing the escape of water from the porous bed 
at points between the absorbing area, or fountain head, and the well. 
This is illustrated in the section (fig. 66), and as it is a condition which 
prevails quite extensively in northern Illinois the subject is worthy of 
discussion in this place. 

The absorbing area for the artesian waters of northern Illinois is in 
southern Wisconsin, the porous rock thence dipping southward to 

'Requisite and qualifying conditions of artesian wells, by T. C. Chamberlin: Fifth Ann. Eept. 
TJ. S. Geol. Survey, 1885, pp. 131-173. 

2 Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia, Vol. I, 1893, Artesian Wells, pp. 347-349. 

3 Artesian waters in the arid region, by Robert T. Hill: Pop. Sci. Monthly, March, 1893. 

91 



92 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

northern Illinois. Between this absorbing area and the wells is a dis- 
trict in which the porous bed is overlain by limestone or semiporous 
rock and also by drift beds which afford much opportunity for trans- 
mission of water. These overlying beds, however, have altitudes fully 
as great as portions of the absorbing area, and hence, wheu filled with 
water, the downward pressure equals or exceeds that of the upward 
pressure of water from the porous bed, and thus they prevent escape 
as effectually as a series of impervious beds. In connection with his 
illustration of this condition, Professor Chamberlin remarks (p. 140): 

I conceive that one of the most favorable conditions for securing a fountain is 
found where thick, semiporous beds, constantly saturated with water to a greater 
height than the fountain head, lie upon the porous stratum and occupy the whole 
country between the well and its source, as illustrated by fig. 15. > This is not only 
a good but an advantageous substitute for a strictly inrpervious confining bed. 
Under these hydrostatic conditions limestone strata reposing on sandstone furnish 
an excellent combination. 

Professor Chamberlin's ideal section should be compared with the 
similar actual section from the Wisconsin River southward across Illi- 
nois (fig. 67), and with the section from Galena to Olney, 111. (fig. 68). 

The variability of head displayed by wells in northern Illinois which 
obtain their main supply from the St. Peter formation is probably 
largely due to the influx of water from overlying beds in the district 
between the fountain head and the well. In the northeastern counties 
of Illinois, especially where the drift deposits are very thick and con- 
tain a large body of sand or gravel filled with water, the head is found 
to be above the normal. In such cases the collecting area or fountain 
head should perhaps be made to include the elevated semiporous beds 
as well as the outcrops of the porous beds. In some districts there is 
danger of loss of head by escape downward from the porous bed, but 
in Illinois, although these underlying beds are usually semiporous, the 
conditions are very unfavorable for the escape of water, for they have 
few outcrops at points below the level of the fountain head. 

The comparatively low altitude of the absorbing area presents a dis- 
advantage. It contains but little ground exceeding 1,000 feet above tide 
(see map, PI. CXI), and much of its surface is below 800 feet. Some 
outcrops along the valleys of Wisconsin are but little above 600 feet. 
Therefore, with excellent conditions for preserving the head, flows can 
scarcely be expected at altitudes much greater than the lowest out- 
crops. It is a matter of surprise that in places they rise above 700 
feet. 

It is not easy to separate wells which flow from those which do not. 
In many cases the head is so nearly coincident with the altitude of the 
well mouth that a well may flow under favorable conditions and cease 
to flow under unfavorable conditions. For example: In Chicago the 
water in wells first sunk rose several feet above the surface ; but when 

1 Fig. 66 in this report, on next preceding page. 




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LEVERETT.] 



ARTESIAN WELLS. 



93 



the number of wells bad greatly increased and large drafts were made by 
pumping, tbe wells ceased flowing. There are portions of Chicago near 



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the stock yards where it is reported that wells do not flow except for a 
brief period each week after the Sunday intermission from pumping. 



94 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

In some towns wells flow if properly constructed, while others at 
similar altitudes do not quite reach the surface. It seems scarcely 
legitimate to restrict the term " artesian " to wells which chance to be 
so favorably situated or constructed as to flow, and to exclude those 
which are less fortunately situated or constructed, for the class of well 
is the same in both cases. Furthermore, the matter of flow is of little 
consequence to many of the prospectors of wells, for it is found that by 
the use of pumps a larger amouut of water can be obtained than from 
the natural flow. In such cases the water surface is kept down by the 
pumping much of the time below the level of the well mouth. In the 
present paper the term artesian is applied to wells which flow and also 
to those which do not flow but which have a head similar to that of the 
flowing wells and are derived from the same water-bearing rock for- 
mations. 

In the tables a few wells appear which have a remarkably high water 
level. For example, the Dekalb waterworks well, which obtains much 
water from the St. Peter sandstone, stands at 772 feet above tide, and 
others in the city at over 800 feet, but those wells receive also the 
water from glacial deposits, which has a greater head than that from 
the St. Peter sandstone. It is thought also that the well at Harvard 
has its head raised to the high level of 894 feet by access of surface 
water. The well at Amboy, with a head 781 feet above tide, began 
flowing when only 390 feet in depth, and though the lower water beds 
increase the quantity, they do not increase the head; indeed, it is not 
improbable that the head from these lower veins is lower than that 
from the upper. 

Wells along the Mississippi, on the Iowa side of the river, are included 
in the tables, since they aid in showing the conditions on the extreme 
border of the State. 1 

Before entering upon the discussion of the wells, a brief review of 
the rock formations of the region will be of advantage. 

THE PALEOZOIC ROCKS IN ILLINOIS. 
DISTRIBUTION OF OUTCROPS. 

The indurated rocks of Illinois, so far as exposed in outcrops or by 
borings, are all included in the Paleozoic system. The Tertiary forma- 
tions of the southern end of the State and the glacial deposits which 
mantle much of the State are in the main but partially lithified. The 
extent of each of the main rock formations is indicated upon the geolog- 
ical map (PI. CXII), which is based upon Worthen's map of Illinois, pub- 
lished in 1875, and Phinney's Indiana map, published in the Eleventh 
Annual Eeport of the United States Geological Survey. 

■The conditions for artesian wells in Indiana will be discussed in another paper, for which consid- 
erable material is already collected. The artesian wells of Iowa are now under investigation by- 
Prof. W. H. Norton, of the Iowa Geological Survey, and will be discussed by Mr. Norton in an early 
report of that Survey. 




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levekett.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS IN ILLINOIS. 95 

In the northern part of the State, Lower Silurian limestones of the 
Trenton group and Upper Silurian of the Niagara group constitute the 
chief surface rocks. The former group is found over several counties 
in the northwest corner, while the latter overlaps it on the east and 
south. The intermediate Hudson Eiver or Cincinnati group consists 
largely of shales and shaly limestones, and has but a limited outcrop. 
When unprotected by the Niagara it has been unable to resist erosion. 
It usually appears, therefore, ouly for a short distance beyond the bor- 
deis of the Niagara. 

The St. Peter sandstone, which underlies the Trenton limestone, is 
well exposed for a few miles above Utica, on the Illinois, and on the 
lower courses of Fox and Vermilion rivers. It is exposed for a few 
miles on Eock Eiver and its tributaries in the vicinity of Oregon, and 
also for a few miles near the head of Elkhoru Creek, or 8 miles north- 
west from Polo. The only remaining known outcrop of this sandstone 
in the State is near the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi, where 
an upheaval brings it to view. 

A limestone which underlies the St. Peter sandstone, and which is 
known in Illinois and Wisconsin by the rather vague term " Lower 
Magnesian limestone," has a very limited outcrop at Utica and also on 
Elkhorn Creek near Polo. It is supposed by Hon. James Shaw, for- 
merly of the Illinois Geological Survey, to be exposed in the bed of Eock 
Eiver a few miles below Oregon. 1 

A line running from Eock Island eastward across the State to Kan- 
kakee passes near the south border of the main Silurian outcrops. 
South from this line the surface rocks are mainly Coal Measures, con- 
sisting chiefly of shales and shaly sandstones, with which thin beds of 
limestone, coal, etc., are associated. In southern Illinois, however, 
heavy sandstone and conglomerate beds occur at the base of the Coal 
Measures. Limestones of the Lower Carboniferous, or Mississippian 
series, form the surface rock along the Mississippi throughout most of 
the western boundary south from Eock Island, Coal Measures strata in 
the immediate bluffs occurring only for a few miles south from Eock 
Island and for a few miles below Alton, and Devonian and Silurian 
strata only at a few points where upheavals have been sufficient to 
bring them to view. Lower Carboniferous limestones also border the 
lower course of the Illinois for a distance of about 80 miles. They 
appear also on the south slope of the Ozark ridge, in southern Illinois. 
In the district above the mouth of the Illinois, the Lower Carboniferous 
rocks consist of the St. Louis, Keokuk, and Burlington limestones. 
Below the mouth of that stream St. Louis limestone and Chester lime- 
stone and sandstone constitute the main representatives, though thiu 
beds of Burlington and Keokuk outcrops occur where upheavals have 
brought them to view. 

1 Geology of Illinois, Vol. V, pp. 118, 119. 



96 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE OP THE STRATA. 

By combining the records of wells and coal shafts or borings with 
the study of outcrops a general conception may be obtained of the 
folds and inclinations of the rock formations. A north-to-south section 
shows a general but very gradual southward dip of the formations, ter- 
minated at the south by the axis of upheaval which, as above noted, 
leads eastward across the State from Grand Tower to Shawueetown. 
The descent probably amounts to 2,500 to 3,000 feet in the 350 miles 
from the north to the south end of the State. It is probable that any 
meridian chosen as a line for a section would show slight undulations, 
carrying the strata up or down 100 to 200 feet or more from a uni- 
form grade, but so far as known no prominent west- to- east axis of 
upheaval crosses the State north of the one just noted. Mention should 
be made of a low arch separating the Illinois-Indiana coal field from 
the Michigan coal field, which is traceable from Lasalle County east- 
ward, and which connects on the southeast with the "Cincinnati 
arch." This arch is, however, so low in eastern Illinois as to bring the 
Lower Silurian strata scarcely 200 feet above their level 20 or more 
miles to the north. This southward rise of perhaps 10 feet per mile 
for a distance of 20 miles is but a slight deflection in the long line of 
southward descent from Wisconsin to southern Illinois, in which the 
formations descend not less than 2,500 feet. 

West-to-east sections are less uniform in the inclination of strata 
than the north-to-south sections. Sections across the northern part of 
the State present two blocks of strata, each dipping gradually to the 
east, separated by an abrupt fold or line of disturbance. At this fold 
the block on the east rises abruptly several hundred feet above the 
neighboring portion of the western block. It is along this line of dis- 
turbance that the St. Peter and Lower Magnesian strata are brought 
to view on the Illinois and Rock rivers and on Elkhorn Creek. Its 
trend from the Illinois River northward is about southeast to northwest. 
Sections in the lead region indicate that it continues in subdued form 
some distance into southwestern Wisconsin. Its southward continua- 
tion from the Illinois is readily traceable as far as Livingston County 
by disturbances shown in coal shafts, as noted by the Illinois Survey. 
Farther south its course is less definitely known, the only source of 
knowledge being the records of borings which have been put down to 
test the field for coal, gas, oil, or water. These indicate a condition 
similar to that of northern Illinois, at least as far south as Tuscola, in 
Douglas County. The borings show that the base of the Coal Meas- 
ures is reached at a much higher level along a line leading from Utica 
southward to Tuscola than along a parallel line a few miles to the west, 
and slightly higher than on a parallel line a few miles to the east. This 
may be seen by the following table: 



leverett.] ALTITUDE OF THE STRATA. 97 

Altitudes of the base of the Coal Measures along three lines. 

West of fold : 

Lasalle, sea level. 

Fairbury, 120 feet above tide, or less. 

Clinton, 200 feet below tide. 

Decatur, 200 feet below tide. 
On the fold : 

Utica, 580 feet above tide. 

Cbatsworth, 515 feet above tide. 

Champaign, 317 feet above tide. 

Tuscola, 473 feet above tide. 
East of fold: 

Morris, 430 feet above tide. 

Milford, 466 feet above tide. 

Danville, 300 feet above tide. 

Montezuma, Ind., 200 feet above tide. 

This disturbance has been made a subject of special study by Prof. 
J. A. Udden at the point where it crosses the Illinois, and he gives the 
following' description of the structural features along a line leading 
from Eock Island eastward through this point to eastern Illinois. The 
section from Davenport eastward past Joliet (fig. 69) follows nearly the 
line here described. 

We see two blocks of horizontal or only very slightly inclined strata separated by 
a monoclinal ibid. The downthrow and the trough limb is on the west, while the 
upthrow and the arch limb is on the east. The total displacement of the Silurian 
strata amounts to 1,575 feet, while the Carboniferous beds are displaced only about 
625 feet. The trend of the axis of disturbance is considerably west of north, the strike 
of the outcrops of the upturned Coal Measures being about N. 30° W. The average 
dip in the displacement at Lasalle is about 22° for the Silurian rocks and about 8° 
for the rocks of the Coal Measures. The block of strata west of the monocline is 
nearly horizontal in an east-to-west direction from Rock Island to Annawan and 
from Princeton to Lasalle, hut between Princeton and Annawan there is a dip to 
the east of about 25 feet to the mile, or there is a concealed displacement of that 
extent between these two places. This dip may be partly accounted for by the dip 
to the south which is found along the whole section. The block of strata on the 
east of the monocline has a nearly uniform dip to the east of about 12 feet to the 
mile. 1 

The Coal Measures strata of central Illinois apparently reach 
about their lowest level along a line shown in fig. 68, leading from 
Lasalle southward parallel with the line of disturbance and but a 
few miles west of it. There is over much of western Illinois a 
gradual descent from the western border of the State to this line, 
averaging in the latitude of Peoria about 7 feet per mile and in the 
latitude of Springfield about 10 feet per mile. The eastward descent 
across western Illinois appears to continue gradual as far south as 
the Cap au Gres upheaval, near the mouth of the Illinois, and, so far 

■Final Report, Illinois Board of World's Fair Commissioners, 18!>5. pp. 144, 145. 

6137 7 



98 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



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as known to the writer, there is no marked disturbance along the 
Mississippi north from that point. 
M „. _ From the Cap au Gres disturbance south- 

a , ^|$ ward to the Ozark ridge, in southern Illinois, a 

2 ~ Sof-fUs^ different field is entered. Disturbances are 

»S 1 ?. iiljl frequent along the Mississippi. There is also 

in this district a great descent in the floor of 
the Coal Measures within a few miles east 
of the Mississippi. Thus, in passing from 
the east bluff of the river in western St. 
Clair County eastward to Belleville a de- 
scent of 650 feet is made within a distance 
of 10 miles. In the vicinity of Mnrphysboro 
the Coal Measures floor ranges from 200 feet 
below sea level to 800 feet above within a 
distance of 10 miles. The deep portion of 
the Coal Measures basin seems, therefore, to 
approach the Mississippi closely from near 
the mouth of the Illinois southward, and, so 
far as can be learned from borings, extends 
eastward at least to the Indiana line. The 
lowest known points in the Coal Measures 
floor are in the southeastern part of the 
State — their level at Olney being about 800 
feet and at Shawneetown 1,100 feet below 
sea level. A great depth is reached in south- 
western Illinois, however, the floor at Coulter- 
ville, in Eandolph County, only 25 miles from 
the Mississippi, being 325 feet below tide, 
and at Highland, about 25 miles from East 
St. Louis, the level is apparently 477 feet below 
tide. 



ANI'AWAN 



ALTITUDE 



OF THE BASE 
MEASURES. 



OF THE COAL 



In the following table an alphabetical list 
of the principal borings in the coal field of 
Illinois is presented which throws light upon 
the altitude of the floor of the Coal Measures 
basin. Where borings reach a definite hori- 
zon near the base of the Coal Measures, esti- 
s- 3 5 5 mates have been made for the level of the 

s ' -" " floor, and are so indicated. When borings 

have apparently reached the lower coal, bat not the rock floor, a 
minus sign is affixed to indicate that the base is still lower. 



ALTITUDE OF THE STRATA. 
Tahh- sTioirin • altitudes of base of Coal Measures. 



99 



Location. 


Altitude. 


Situation. 


Above 
tide. 


Jielow 
tide. 




Feet. 


Feet. 




Annawan 


466 




On western block. 


Beardstown (est. ) 


450 




Do. 


Belleville 









Braid wood 


446 






Canton 


360 






Carrollton 


545 
317 




Do. 


Champaign 


Chatsworth 


515 


200 


Do. 
In trough. 


Clinton 


Coulterville 




325 




Danville 


300 


85 


On eastern block. 


Dawson (est.) 


Decatur (est.) 




200 






185 


775 


On western block. 

Basin in southern Illinois. 


Effingham (est.) 


Fairbury 


120— 






Franklin 


341 
420— 
520 
575? 
50 




On western block. 
On eastern block. 
On western block. 
On eastern block. 


Gardner 


Geneseo 


Gibson 


Girard (est.) 


Hennepin 




130 




Highland 




477? 


Basin in southern Illinois. 


Hillsboro 




160 


On western block. 


Ij>ava 


497 




Do. 


Jacksonville 


350 

600 




Do. 
Do. 


Jersevville (est.) 


Lasalle 







In trough. 


Litchfield 




142 


On western block. 


Macomb 


555 

417 


270 


Do. 
On eastern block. 
In trough. 


Marseilles 


Mattoon 


Millstadt 


375? 




Basin (rim) southern Illinois. 


Milford 


466 
430 




On eastern block. 
Do. 


Mo'ris 


Monmouth 


666 




On western block. 


Montezuma, Ind 


200 




On eastern block. 


Murphysboro 




192 


Basiu in southern Illinois. 


Olney 




795 


Do. 


Pana (est. ) 




325 


In trough. 





100 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 
Table showing altitudes of base of Coal Measures — Continued. 



Location. 


Altitude. 


Situation. 


Above 
tide. 


Below 
tide. 


Peoria 


Feet. 
186 
407— 
467 
120 

600 


Feet. 


On western block. 


Pontiac 


On eastern liloek. 


Prairie City 

Princeton 


112 

1,100 
250 




On western block. 

In trough. 

On western block. 

Do. 
Basin in southern Illinois. 

Do. 
Basin (rim) in southern Illinois. 

Do. 
On eastern block. 

Do. 
On western block. 

Do. 


Riverton 

Rock Island 


Shawneetown 


Srnithboro 




Sparta 

Steeleville 

Streator 

Tuscola 

Waverly 

Winchester 


138 
150 
377 
473 
286 
450 





ALTITUDE OF ST. PETER SANDSTONE IN ILLINOIS. 

For the northern portion of the State, where the Goal Measures are 
absent, the variations in altitude of formations may perhaps be best 
shown by a hypsographic map of the St. Peter (PL OXIII), which is sup- 
plemented by the following table of altitudes of the St. Peter sandstone. 
This formation in western Illinois lies 1,000 to 1,300 feet below the base 
of the Coal Measures. In eastern Illinois, near the northern border of 
the coal field, it is only 300 to 600 feet below that base, because of the 
absence of Devonian and Lower Carboniferous formations. These for- 
mations soon appear, however, in passing southward, and the interval 
becomes as great as in western Illinois. At Danville it appears to be 
nearly 1,300 feet. It is probable that in southern Illinois the average 
interval between the base of the Coal Measures and this formation is 
not less than 1,200 feet, but there are no borings to test the matter. 

Altitudes of top of St. Peter sandstone in Illinois. 



Location. 


Altitude. 


Thick- 
ness. 


Situation. 


Above 
tide. 


Below tide. 


Aurora 


Feet. 


Feet. 
20 
605 


Feet. 

236 

(?) 

210 
273 


On eastern block. 
On western block. 
On eastern block. 
0n< western block. 


Beardstown 




Braidwood 


57 




753 










i 








+• 



levebett.] ALTITUDE OF THE STRATA. 

Altitudes of top of St. refer sandstone in Illinois — Continued. 



101 



Location. 



Cap an Gros. 



Carthage 

Carrolltcm 

Chicago 

Danville 

Davenport, Iowa 

Elgin 

Elkhorn Creek 

Evanston 

Galena 

Geneseo 

Hammond, Ind 

Harvard 

Highland Park 

Ipava 

Jacksonville 

Jerseyville 

Joliet 

Kankakee 

Keokuk, Iowa 

Lake Bluff 

Lasalle 

Macomb 

Mendota 

Milan 

Millington 

Moline 

Monmouth 

Morgan Park 

Morris 

Morrison 

Near Oregon (est. ) 

Ottawa 

Princeton 

Rock Island 

Rockford 

Seneca 

Sterling 

"Winnetka 



Altitude. 



Above 
title. 



Feet. 
550 



Below tide. 



eijJ 

850 i 



445 



295 



415 



600 



180 



850 
483 



558 
250 



Feet. 



297 

590 
225± 
1,090 
370 



Thick- 
ness. 



428 

460 



320 
630 
900 
738 
91 
280 
318 
258 
907 
435 



364 



371 
336 

405 



100 



900 
364 



33 
281 



Feet. 
(?) 

(?) 
(?) 
200+ 

35 
130 
110 

50+ 
420? 
145 
220 
190 
210 
200 
290 
319 
200 
210 
(?) 
110 
167 
175 
225 
(?) 
195 
(?) 
216 
(?) 
(?) 
(?) 
200 
185 
138 
160 
272 
225 
220 
300 
212 



Situation. 



Uplift in southwestern 
Illinois. 

On western block. 

Do. 
On eastern block. 

Do. 
On western block. 
On eastern block. 
On axis of upheaval. 
On eastern block. 
On western block. 

Do. 
On eastern block. 

Do. 

Do. 
On western block. 

Do. 

Do. 
On eastern block. 

Do. 
On western block. 
On eastern block. 
In trough near axis. 
On western block. 
Near axis of upheaval. 
On western block. 
Small anticline. 
On western block. 

Do. 
On eastern block. 

Do. 
On western block. 
On axis of upheaval. 
On eastern block. 
Iu trough. 
On western block. 
On eastern block. 

Do. 
On western block. 
On eastern block. 



102 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

THICKNESS OF THE PALEOZOIC FORMATIONS. 

In the northern part of Illinois the thickness of the Paleozoic rocks 
is probably much less than in the central and southern portions, since 
in places only the Lower Silurian and Cambrian are present. No 
borings have reached the base of these formations, though there are 
several in the northern part of the State which exceed 2,500 feet in 
depth. From what is known of the thickness of the Lower Silurian 
and Cambrian in adjacent parts of Wisconsin, it seems scarcely proba- 
ble that the thickness in the northern part of Illinois greatly exceeds 
the depth of the borings. Probably 3,000 feet at the State line would 
be a liberal estimate. 

Concerning the thickness in southern Illinois, nothing definite is 
known further than the fact that Coal Measures there have a thick- 
ness of 1,200 to 1,500 feet, and that at St. Louis, Mo., a well passes 
through about 3,680 feet of Paleozoic strata below the Coal Measures 
before entering granite or pre-Cambrian rocks. The St. Louis well 
probably shows no greater thickness of rocks between the Coal Meas- 
ures and the pre-Cambrian than will be found beneath much of south- 
ern Illinois. On the contrary, it seems probable that because of 
Devonian and Chester formations, which are ijresent i tl considerable 
thickness beneath portions of southern Illinois and are not present in 
the St. Louis well, the thickness of the Paleozoic rocks of such portions 
of southern Illinois may exceed by several hundred feet the combined 
thickness of the Coal Measures and of the rocks penetrated in the 
St. Louis well. As this combined thickness is about 5,000 feet, it 
seems probable that the maximum thickness of the Paleozoic rocks 
in southern Illinois will be found to reach nearly 6,000 feet, or about 
double the amount thought to be present in northern Illinois. 

STRUCTURE OF THE ROCK FORMATIONS. 

The writer's knowledge of the formations aside from outcrops has 
been obtained mainly from the records of wells or other borings which 
have been made either by drillers or by persons who were present dur- 
ing the drilling of a well. Only a few samples of rock drillings have 
been personally examined. Some of the records appear to have been 
kept with care, and much discrimination has been used in classifying the 
rocks; but the majority indicate only in a partial or crude manner the 
features of the formations. For example, in the best records the several 
classes of limestone or shale or sandstone are clearly recognized, but in 
most records there is no attempt at separation beyond that of the gen- 
eral groups — sandstone, shale, and limestone. In cases where lime- 
stones are sandy and saudstones are somewhat calcareous there is 
often a doubt as to the correctness of the interpretation, even of the 
general groups. Such being the condition of knowledge of the struc- 
ture, it seems unwise to publish the majority of the records which have 



STRUCTURE OF THE ROCK FORMATIONS. 



103 



/*/?. \/f?/E OUCH /EN 
Wt.CONSfN ff 



c 5 



SLUE AfOUIVOS 



Wt 'ST L tMtT oromrT 



M* 0/SOJV 



been examined. Fortunately, Prof. J. A. Udden has had opportunity 
to carefully examine drillings from several of the wells in the vicinity of 
Eock Island, and his report upon this 
study is presented herewith. (See 
Chapter X.) This report, with the sec- 
tions which accompany it, serves to 
indicate the character of the formations 
from the Devonian to the Potsdam in 
that part of Illinois. 

From records in the writer's posses- 
sion, together with those which have 
already appeared in print, sections have 
been made which set forth the structure 
along several lines traversing the State 
in various directions. One of these sec- 
tions passes through Bock Island in a 
north-to-south course and indicates the 
changes in thickness and structure of 
the formations which occur in that 
direction (see fig. 67). Another leads 
eastward from near Pock Island to 
Joliet, showing the changes in dip, 
structure, and thickness in that direc- 
tion (see fig. G9). A third section leads 
from Galena southeastward beneath 
the Coal. Measures basin (see fig. 68). 
A section across southern Wisconsin 
from Prairie du Chien to Milwaukee, 
obtained from Professor Chamberlin's 
geological map of Wisconsin (see fig. 
70), is also given. 

It will be observed that shale consti- 
tutes but a small part of the sections 
outside the Coal Measures area, the 
greater part of the section being lime- 
stone. The sandstones from which 
flowing wells are obtained apparently 
have found in the limestone cover as 
complete a check to the escape of water 
as would have been made by shale. 
The district to the west and north of 
the Coal Measures area is fully as pro- % ^ \ \ 

ductive in artesian flows as that within ' 9 

the limits of this formation. 

The border line between the Lower Magnesian and Potsdam strata 
has not been satisfactorily determined. Professor Udden has found 



2 1? B 

a E a' 

3) 



8 



WAUKESHA 



M/L WAUHEE 



104 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

difficulty, even with the drillings before him, in deciding upon its place. 
His recognition of the close similarity between the Wisconsin Potsdam 
and certain beds in the wells at Bock Island and Davenport, however, 
makes it seem probable that the Lower Magnesian beds there have a 
thickness of about 800 feet. 1 As is well known, this formation has in 
southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois a thickness of only 200 feet. 
Whether this rapid southward increase in thickness prevails over the 
entire width of Illinois is not determined, though it seems probable 
that such is the case. A few carefully kept records of wells which 
penetrate these beds are herewith presented, since they may aid in 
future interpretations. The records of wells at Ottawa and Joliet were 
furnished by the driller, A. K. Wallen, of Morris. The record at 
Streator was kept by the late Dr. E. Evans, of that city. 

Record of artesian-wen boring at Streator, III. 

[Altitude of well mouth, about 618 feet above tide.] 

Feet. 

Drift 30 

Coal Measures 211 

Trenton 1 imestone 203 

St. Peter sandstone 225 

Calciferous limestone 90 

Calciferous sandstone 133 

White limestone 211 

White sandstone 37 

Gray limestone 50 

Red sandstone 15 

Gray limestone 32 

White sandstone 168 

Blue shale 100 

Dark limestone 73 

Variable sandstone 187 

Soft, white limestone 60 

Variable clay shales 158 

Red sandstone 80 

Blue clay shale 50 

Bluish limestone 50 

Potsdam sandstone 333 

Total 2,496 

Record of well boring at Ottawa, III., foot of bluff at north end of Lasalle street. 

[Altitude of well mouth, 73 feet above Illinois River, or 520 feet above tide.] 

Feet. 

Alluvium, etc 35 

St. Peter sandstone 130 

Mainly limestone 145 

Mainly sandstone 110 

Fine limestone 175 

Hard limestone, with thin sandstone beds and iron pyrites 260 

Blue, sandy shale 120 

1 See discussion by Professor TJdden in Chapter X. 



levkrett] STRUCTURE OF THE ROCK FORMATIONS. 105 

Feet. 

Hard sandstone 100 

Soft, white sandstone 360 

Hard, dark-colored rock 90 

Potsdam sandstone, with much water 200 

Total .' 1, 840 

Record of well boring at Joliet steel mill. 

[Altitude of well mouth, about 550 feet above tide.] 

Feet. 

Drift 7 

Niagara limestone 230 

Dark-colored shale ( Hudson River) 68 

Trenton limestone 334 

St. Peter sandstone 217 

Red marl 40 

Limestone 450 

Sharp sandstone 175 

Blue shale 50 

Shal y limestone 125 

Shale 230 

Potsdam sandstone, with much water 150 

Total 2,076 

Iii the following table are arranged a few of the records of wells in 
the vicinity of Chicago. They show remarkable variations in the thick- 
ness of certain formations within short distances. The most remarka- 
ble is the St. Peter, which, in this small district, apparently ranges 
from S9 feet to 420 feet. The general reliability of the various records 
seems beyond question, for those which are not given by the drillers 
were furnished by men who were interested in the geologic structure. 



Iu6 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



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leverett.] ARTESIAN WELLS. 107 

THE TERTIARY DEPOSITS. 

These deposits are found in great thickness in the southern end of 
the State, and are probably present in many places beneath the drift 
at points farther north. Prof. B. D. Salisbury has found numerous 
exposures of beds of gravel and sand of pre-Glacial age on the border 
of the Mississippi between Alton and Warsaw, thus corroborating Pro- 
fessor Worthen's suspicion of the occurrence of such beds in the vicinity 
of Warsaw and Quiucy, though he has not settled their exact date of 
deposition, compared with the Tertiary of southern Illinois. The de- 
posits in southern Illinois are thought by Worthen to be of Eocene age. 

These deposits consist of a variety of material, a large part of which 
is sand or gravel, but there are also beds of compact clay. The con- 
tained water is found in many places to be strongly chalybeate, and is, 
on the whole, less agreeable to the taste than water from drift gravel 
and sand. So far as known to the writer, artesian wells have not been 
found in these deposits within the State of Illinois. Whether or not 
the conditions are favorable for their development has not been ascer- 
tained. 

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF WELLS. 

The artesian wells of Illinois are found mainly in the northern third 
of the State, on the north and west of the Illinois Elver. They are 
somewhat irregularly distributed. In a few sections, such as the city 
of Chicago, the head-water portions of the Illinois Valley, and the Mis- 
sissippi Valley, Ihe wells are very abundant, being, indeed, so numerous 
that the amount of flow is affected. Throughout the greater part of 
the area, however, they occur only at intervals of several miles. They 
are found mainly in the large towns of the district, but a few are located 
in villages, and rarely one has been made on a farm. Attention has 
already been called to the large use of these wells as sources of city 
water supply, and they are also used in various manufacturing indus- 
tries. 

The accompanying map (PI. OXIII) shows the position of the wells, 
both flowing and nonflowing. It will be observed that the flowing 
wells are confined largely to the valleys, though a few occur on the 
lower parts of the upland. 

In the central and southern portion of Illiuois the occurrence of 
artesian waters of good quality has not been thoroughly tested. That 
region being underlain largely by Coal Measures shales, which contain 
sulphur and various mineral ingredients unpleasant to the taste, it can 
scarcely be expected that the water will be generally of good quality, 
suitable for drinking purposes. It has been found, however, that in 
some places wells with good quality of water may be obtained if cer- 
tain horizons are selected which are free from these objectionable 
minerals. It should not, therefore, be understood that these portions 



108 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

of the State are entirely unfavorable for the development of artesian 
wells. But much discretion will be necessary in separating waters and 
selecting the proper horizon. In the district outlined as the main 
artesian-well district no such separation is called for, since the 
waters are generally wholesome and of agreeable taste. 

STRATIGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF WELLS. 

Artesian wells have been found in nearly all of the main geological 
formations, excepting the Hudson River shales and Kinderhook shales. 
The best horizon is that of the Potsdam sandstone, which occurs at the 
base of the Paleozoic series. This is a very thick formation, and is 
usually sufficiently porous to readily transmit water. Mr. Mead esti- 
mates that in its most porous portions in Wisconsin it has the capacity 
to absorb water to an extent of 20 to 40 per cent of its volume. Such 
porosity is, however, not general, though a large part of the deposit 
will probably have a capacity equal to several per cent of its volume. 

The next in order of importance, and the leading formation in order 
of development, is the St. Peter sandstone, which is also a very porous 
rock, well adapted for transmitting water. This deposit is, however, a 
thin one, averaging scarcely 200 feet, and is in places subject to changes 
to a shaly condition. Such being the case, wells in northern Illinois 
have often passed through it into the underlying Potsdam for their 
supply. As it lies much nearer to the surface than the Potsdam, it is 
over much of northern and all of western Illinois a more common source 
of supply for wells than the latter. Probably as many wells are obtained 
from this one formation as from the Potsdam and all others combined. 

Next in order of importance is the portion of the Trenton formation 
known as the Galena limestone. In its lower portion the Galena lime- 
stone frequently becomes a porous, somewhat sandy formation, with a 
capacity for transmitting water nearly as great as the regular sandstone. 
It is this porous portion of the Trenton which in Indiana and Ohio 
is a gas-yielding rock, and where this porous rock is at too low a level 
to contain gas or oil it is filled with water. It is therefore an extensive 
water-bearing rock. Unfortunately, it is in Indiana and Ohio a salt 
water, but in Illinois it is usually suitable for domestic use. Well 
drillers in Illinois are in the habit of confounding this formation with 
the St. Peter sandstone, since it lies but a short distance above the 
latter. It appears not to have a very definite water horizon, for wells 
in neighboring villages often find the water in it at widely different 
depths. Though apparently subject to changes in texture at all the 
water levels, there is probably some connection by which the water 
may be transmitted readily. 

The next formation in order of importance is the somewhat complex 
series of limestones and sandstones found between the St. Peter and the 
Potsdam, and called by the rather indefinite name Lower Magnesian 
limestone. The large amount of sandstone makes this an especially 



leverett.] DEPTH OF WELLS. 109 

unfortunate name. As already shown, this formation is difficult to 
separate from the Potsdam, and in many cases it is difficult to say 
where the border line lies. The decision whether any given well is in 
the Potsdam or Lower Magnesian sandstones will depend upon the 
settlement of this border line. In the table of artesian-well data, which 
appears herewith, wells which have obtained their supply from this 
part of the rock series are provisionally referred to the Lower Magne- 
sian. The wells are usually found in the sandstone beds, some of which 
are nearly as porous as the undoubted Potsdam. 

The nest formation in order of importance is the Niagara limestone. 
This appears, like the Galena, to be subject in limited areas to a change 
to a sandy constitution, in which case it often transmits water readily. 
This limestone also transmits much water through crevices or fissures, 
and wells are frequently obtained where no change to a sandy constitu- 
tion has occurred. This formation lies so far above the level of the St. 
Peter that it should not be confounded with the latter, yet instances 
have occurred where such seems to have been the case. The water 
from the Niagara probably has access to many of the deep wells of 
northeastern Illinois, which are generally supposed to be supplied from 
lower horizons. 

A few wells have been obtained from formations above the Niagara, 
but such wells are usually of much less strength than those from the 
main horizons. As already noted, it will be necessary, in the case of 
the Coal Measures, to separate the waters which are strongly impreg- 
nated with objectionable minerals from those having agreeable taste, 
before successful wells can be obtained. 

Reviewing the above statements, it appears that the three main 
horizons for artesian wells are the Potsdam, the St. Peter, and the 
Galena. The other horizons are of minor importance, being more or less 
uncertain sources for wells. 

DEPTH OF WELLS. 

The artesian wells have a known range in depth of from about 40 
feet to 3,115 feet. The shallowest wells are found along the Illinois 
River Valley, where the St. Peter and the Lower Magnesian strata lie 
at slight depth. Several hundred wells have been obtained in this 
valley at depths of 150 to 400 feet. It is estimated that in the city of 
Ottawa alone there are 200 such wells, and there are nearly as many in 
the city of Marseilles. Aside from this limited district along the 
Illinois, it is rare to find strong artesian wells at less than 500 feet, and 
the depth usually much exceeds that amount. The average depth for 
the 168 wells given below in the tabulated artesian-well data is 1,377 feet. 
The expense of sinking a well to a depth of 1,000 or 1,500 feet is usually 
not more than $3,000, and in the majority of cases the supply of water 
is such as to abundantly repay the outlay. Wells Avhich have pene- 
trated to a depth of 2,500 or 3,000 feet usually cost $6,000 to $12,000, 



110 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



and unless very strong flows of water of good quality are obtained 
there is not an adequate return for the investment. It is found, how- 
ever, that in the city of Chicago, where large quantities of water are 
in demand, wells may profitably be sunk to a depth of 2,000 feet or 
more. Wells at various points in the northern part of the State exceed 
2,000 feet in depth. On the whole, it may be considered safe to make 
sufficient outlay in that portion of the State to reach a depth of 2,000 
to 2,500 feet, as the wells are generally strong and of good quality. The 
following list embraces the wells with a depth of 2,000 feet or more in 
which the returns seem to justify the outlay: 

Profitable wells 2,000 feet in clepih. 



Location. 



Amboy 

Aurora 

Chicago 

Davenport 

Elgin 

Harvey 

Joliet Steel Mill 
Mount Carroll .. 

Oak Park 

Polo 

Princeton 

Riverside 

Rock Island 



So. 



1 
2 
1 30 
3 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 



Depth. 



Feet. 

2, 000 

2, 270 and 2, 255 

2,000 to 2,700 
2,100 

2, 026 and 2, 230 
2,075 
2,076 
2,502 
2,200 
2,098 

2, 092 and 2, 500 
2,200 
2,282 



1 Estimated. 



A longer list might be prepared of wells in which it was found not 
necessary to penetrate to this great depth, because the demand was 
abundantly supplied at less depth. 



TABULATION OF ARTESIAN-WELL DATA. 

In the following table the principal facts concerning the wells are 
presented. These facts were obtained largely by correspondence with 
the well owners or superintendents, for the writer has not had oppor- 
tunity to examine many of the wells. Where not obtained directly 
or in this manner, a considerable part of the information has been 
gathered from Mr. Daniel W. Mead's tables in his paper on tl\e hydrog- 
raphy of Illinois. The records for wells at Davenport, Bock Island, 
Moline, and Geneseo were furnished by Prof. J. A. Udden. A few 
records have been obtained from the Illinois Geological Eeports, and 
a few from other publications. 



leverett.] ARTESIAN-WELL DATA. Ill 

Iii most cases the tables indicate precise altitudes and depths. The 
depth of well and of casing is nearly always based upon careful meas- 
urements. 

Altitude. — The altitude of the well mouth is in sonic cases liable to 
an error of a few feet. This liability to error conies from assuming the 
well to have the same altitude as the railway station nearest it. In 
most cases it is known that the error is very slight. When there is a 
liability to an error of some consequence the sign (=t) is affixed. 

Capacity. — The capacity of the wells is not satisfactorily determined. 
In some cases the natural flow has been given, and in others the 
amount which can be pumped. As the supply can be greatly increased 
by pumping, the relative natural strength is not showu. The table is 
of value in showing actual use made of the wells. 

Casing. — The water beds indicated in this table are in some instances 
all used by the well, and in other instances all except the lower are 
shut oft' by casing. The amount of casing used will serve to indicate 
what veins are left available for the wells. 

Head. — The head, or rise of water in ihe wells, is affected by both 
natural and artificial influences. Neither of these are, as a rule, fully 
understood; consequently theoretical calculations are very liable to 
prove incorrect. 

Determinations of head which appear in the following ^able are in 
some cases precise, while in others they are only approximate. The 
most precise are those made by Professor Udden from Rock Island and 
vicinity. Much care was exercised by Professor Udden in determining 
the elevation of the well mouth, the variations of head in the different 
wells, and the decrease of head in certain wells. Since these data are 
very reliable, the variations in head displayed by neighboring wells 
are of much interest and significance. It is probable that the wells of 
that district show no greater variation than is liable to appear in any 
artesian field. They serve to show that neighboring wells may vary a 
score or more of feet when from the same water horizon, and demon- 
strate the futility of predicting to a precise foot the height to which 
water will rise. Similar variations in head are reported by Mr. Mead 
to occur at Clinton, Iowa. 

The head from the different water horizons seems to differ but little 
in northern and western Illinois, though a slightly greater head is 
generally found in the Potsdam than in the veins of higher horizons. 
Under the most favorable conditions the head from the St. Peter and 
the Galena appears to reach about 675 feet, as is the case at Monmouth, 
while from the Potsdam it appears to rise slightly above 700 feet, as 
shown by several wells in western Illinois. Qualifying conditions come 
in, however, which reduce the available head to the amount of 50 to 75 
feet below the levels just given. Few wells in northern Illinois can be 
depended upon to maintain a head much exceeding GOO feet. 

In the portion of the Illinois Valley near the point where the St. 



112 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

Peter outcrops, the head from that formation is much lower than in 
surrounding districts, and it is thought that the outcrop of the water- 
bearing rock has led to this reduction. Data concerning this inter- 
esting region are meager, and hence the extent of the influence of this 
outcrop can not be confidently stated. The formation appears to have 
much greater extent to the south and east than toward the west. The 
lowest head is between Utica and Seneca, where it is but about 525 feet 
above tide. Eastward it reaches only 588 feet at Braidwood; south- 
ward, it reaches only 5S0 feet at Streator ; but westward at Princeton, 
no farther than the points just named, the head is found to be 638 feet, 
or about as great as in the majority of wells in western Illinois. 

In many cases there has been a marked loss of head since a well was 
made. For this reason it has been found necessary to arrange two 
columns, one showing the original, the other the present head. There 
are probably several causes for this loss of head. Among the most 
prominent, perhaj)s, is the clogging of the water-bearing stratum at the 
point where it issues into the well. This, however, has not been tested, 
so far as the writer is aware. Wells clogged in tins way may often have 
their head restored by the discharge of some explosive, which causes 
a loosening of the bed at the point of entrance to the well. When a 
new well is made in the vicinity of one which has lost head and is found 
to have a head as great as the original head of that well, there is very 
strong probability that the loss of head is due to the clogging of the 
water bed or of the pipe. In some cases wells have lost head because 
of defective casing, there being strata about the well which absorbed 
water that would otherwise rise above the surface. 

In certain districts loss of head has resulted from the overtaxing 
of the water bed. When several wells are sunk within a small area, as 
is sometimes the case in the most favorable localities for wells, the head 
is found to be greatly reduced. One of the best illustrations is afforded 
by the city of Chicago; and the Chicago district, when thoroughly 
examined, will probably throw much light upon the effect of overdraw- 
ing the natural flow of a well. The original head for the Galena and 
St. Peter water in the vicinity of Chicago is about 690 feet. At present 
water can scarcely be made to rise above 600 feet at any point near the 
city. The great drafts made in Chicago, which amount to several million 
gallons per day, appear to have reduced the head for several miles to 
the west and south from the limits of the city — as far west, it is thought, 
as the Des Plaines River, a distance of 10 miles from the part of the 
city where the wells are most numerous. Toward the south the head 
appears to have been lowered to an even greater distance. Another 
locality where the head appears to have been lowered by heavy pump- 
ing is found at Joliet. Mr. F. W. Dewey, the superintendent of water- 
works of that city, reports that heavy pumping of a single well has 
been found to lower the head several feet in wells nearly one half mile 
distant. It is probable that the Eock Island district has been affected 



LEYERETT.l 



ARTESIAN-WELL DATA. 



113 



to some extent by an overtaxing of head, though data, are not available 
on that point. 

The drawbacks, both natural and artificial, being so great, it is not at 
all remarkable that wells are seldom found to reafth the theoretical head. 
Attention has already been called to the effect of an influx of surface 
water in raising the apparent head of wells which do not overflow. 
This is thought to be very great in the northeastern part of the State, 
where the drift beds are heavily charged with water. 

Quality of water. — The chemical analyses which have been made, 
although few and from mixed water veins, are sufficient to throw some 
light upon the quality of water. They indicate an increasing amount 
of mineral matter in passing from north to south. This is a feature 
which is to be expected in passing away from the absorption area, for 
the strata through which the waters are transmitted contain soluble 
constituents, and wells which are remote from the absorption area must 
necessarily furnish waters which have been longer confined in these 
strata than those near the fountain head, and are in consequence more 
highly charged with the soluble minerals. The several strata which 
transmit water vary greatly in the amount of soluble constituents, and 
it is thought that a separation of the veins from each horizon would 
show marked variations in a given well. Indeed, certain properties of 
the water are usually recognized as characteristic of certain horizons. 
Unfortunately, such separation is rarely made in the waters which 
have been analyzed. 

Of the wells located in the northern tier of counties, waters have 
been analyzed at Galena and Eockford. The former shows about 12.5 
grains of mineral matter per gallon from Potsdam water. The latter 
shows 28.7 grains from St. Peter and 27.8 grains from Potsdam water. 
In the second tier of counties waters have been analyzed from several 
points, and show a range from 17.5 to 91.24 grains, as follows: 



Location. 


Geological source. 


Grains per 
TJ. S. gallon. 


Winnetka 


Unknown 


51.60 

71.30 

23.23 

16.99 

91.24 

56.90 

18.20 

18.1 

17.5 

18.0 

28.39 

30.60 


Evanston . 


Mainly St. Peter 

Unknown 


Chicago, Hunger's laundry. 


do 


Chicago, Auditorium Hotel. 
Oakpark 


do 


Mainly Potsdam 

do 




Elgin 


do 


Dekalb 




Dixon waterworks 


Potsdam 


Dixon Condensing Co 


do 


Sterling 


do 







6137- 



114 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



Analyses of waters in the vicinity of Rock Island show the following 
amounts of mineral matter : 



Locality. 


Geological source. 


Grains per 
U. S. gallon. 


Milan 


Galena and St. Peter. . . 
Galena, etc 


68.4 
71.9 

70.4 
67.3 


Moline, paper mill 


East Moline 


Galena and St. Peter. .. 
dp 


Rock Island, lirewery. 


Davenport, glucose works .. . 


Galena and Potsdam . . . 


60.2 



At Geneseo a well obtaining water from several horizons shows 157.4 
grains; at Monmouth a well from St. Peter shows 73.9 grains; at Peru 
a well, probably from St. Peter, shows 50.9 grains; at Princeton only 
28.5 grains are reported. Analyses farther south show a much larger 
amount than in any of the wells thus far mentioned. Thus, at 
Lagrange, Mo., 424 grains; at Hannibal, Mo., 987.64 grains; at Barry, 
111., 367 grains; and at St. Louis, Mo., 550.2 grains. At Jerseyville, 
however, only 141.5 grains are reported. 

The most widely prevalent minerals of these waters which have 
been analyzed — and it is thought that the waters are fairly representa- 
tive of the region — are calcium and magnesium carbonate and bicar- 
bonate. These are generally present in all wells to such an extent as 
to render the water somewhat hard for laundry purposes. In many 
cases, also, wells drilled to supply water for boilers have found water 
too strongly impregnated by these minerals for satisfactory use. 

Sodium chloride occurs only in small amount in the water of the 
northern part of the State, only a fraction of a grain per gallon being 
found in the wells at Galena, Bockford, Dekalb, Dixon, and Sterling, 
and less than 3 grains in the Chicago analyses. Less than 3 grains per 
gallon are found at Elgin, Aurora, Turner, and Winnetka, but at Oak- 
park 30.54 grains of potassium and sodium chlorides are reported. In 
the vicinity of Eock Island the wells are more salt than at Princeton 
and Monmouth, there being from 27 to 32 grains of sodium chloride 
. found in the several waters analyzed, while at Princeton but 3.7 grains 
and at Monmouth but 9.61 grains are reported. Upon passing south 
to the wells containing large mineral residue, we find that sodium 
chloride greatly preponderates. Thus, at Lagrange, Mo., 320.6 grains; 
at Hannibal, Mo., 712.28 grains; at Barry, 111., 277.7 grains, and at St. 
Louis, Mo., 401.5 grains are reported. At Jerseyville, where a smaller 
mineral residue occurs, there are 85.9 grains of sodium chloride. The 
salinity is such even at Eock Island as to be objectionable until a taste 
for the water has been acquired, while at points where the sodium 
chloride is greater the use of the water for drinking purposes can 
scarcely become popular. 



levereto.] ART ESI AN -WELL DATA. 115 

In several cases wells are found to contain sulphates of various kinds 
in measurable amount, as may be seeu by the analyses. Sodium sul- 
phate is usually present with the sodium chloride in greater or less 
amount, and tends to render the water disagreeable. 

Hydrogen sulphide is usually abundant in waters from the Niagara 
and from the Galena, but is less conspicuous in the St. Peter waters, 
and, so far as known, is not abundant at lower horizons. 

Iron salts are not usually present in sufficient amount to greatly 
affect the water. 

Where no analyses have been made statements concerning the 
quality of the water have been furnished by the well owners or super- 
intendents. These are presented in the table, since they serve to show 
the popular idea of the quality of the water. 



116 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 






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3 





CHAPTER IX, 



WATER ANALYSES. 



The State Board of Health, in 1888 and 1889, made sanitary analyses 
of the waters used by the State institutions, ami also of waters from 
several cities. In most cases several analyses of a water were made, 
in order to determine its average condition. In the following table only 
the averages are presented. 1 

This table is followed by analyses of the polluted waters of the Des 
Plaines and Illinois rivers and of the canal waters near Chicago, also 
made by the State Board of Health in 1888 and 1889. With these 
analyses appear analyses of waters from Lake Michigan and Dupage 
and Kankakee rivers, which are comparatively unpolluted. 

1 The full report of analyses will be found in the Preliminary Report to the Illinois State Board of 
Health on Water Supplies of Illinois and the Pollution of its Streams, by J. H. Kauch, M. D., secretary. 
Published at Springfield, 111., 1889. 

125 



126 



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WATER ANALYSES. 



127 



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levebett.] WATER ANALYSES. 129 

The following- table of chemical analyses of sidings, shallow wells, 
etc., has been taken in the main from Air. Mead's report. The additional 
analyses were obtained through schedules for city water supply. The 
analyses vary quite widely in the determinations made, some being less 
complete than may be shown in this table, while a few embrace several 
not included in the table. .Mention of the additional substances is 
therefore made at this point. In the Bushuell well there is in the 
analysis a statement that 3.50 grains of alkali occur. In four instances 
determinations of magnesium sulphate were made, as follows: Dwight, 
13.61; Nashville Spring, 103.7; Spring Valley (spring No. 1), 9.12; and 
Waukesha Hygeia Spring, 4.35 grains. The iron and alumina are not 
separated in the Lincoln and the Hygeia analyses. At Oregon a small 
amount (6.90 gr ) of potassium carbonate is reported. At the Perry 
Iron Spring a large amount of ferrous sulphate (69. 9G gr.) is reported. 
At Spring Valley calcium and magnesium chlorides appear in greater 
amount than in most waters of the region, there being 33.72 grains. At 
the Hygeia Spring several additional determinations were made, viz: 
Free carbonic acid, 1.13 grains; magnesium sulphate, 4.35 grains; mag- 
nesium chloride, 0.21 grain; magnesium nitrate, 1.62 grains; iron 
phosphate, 0.00S grain ; iron carbonate with alumina, 3.039 grains. 
6137 9 



130 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 





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leverett.] WATER ANALYSES. 131 

In the following table are arranged the best analyses of artesian 
waters that are available. The water in the majority of the wells is 
not from a single vein or water horizon, there being few wells in which 
casing is carried far into the rock. It is probable, however, that the 
water in the following wells is mainly from the St. Peter: Dekalb water- 
works, Monmouth waterworks, Eockford 400-foot well, and Eock Island 
brewery. The water in the following is probably mainly from Potsdam : 
Clinton (Iowa) waterworks, Galena waterworks, Eockford waterworks, 
St. Lonis (Mo.) Insane Hospital, Sterling waterworks, and Turner 
Junction railroad well. 

In addition to the substances classified in the table, a few wells show 
measurable amounts of other substances. Thus, organic matter is 
reported as follows: Dekalb, 0.70 grain; Elgin Hospital, 0.99 grain; 
Moline Paper Mill, a trace. Magnesium chloride is reported as follows: 
Montezuma, Ind., 9.97 grains; St. Louis, Mo., 40. OS grains; Wiunetka, 
111., 1.95 grains. Magnesium sulphate is reported as follows: Audito- 
rium Hotel, Chicago, 11.90 grains; Hannibal, Mo., 72.21 grains; Milan, 
0.75 grain. Potassium chloride is reported as follows: Barry, 8.57 
grains; Montezuma, Ind., 2.08 grains; St. Louis, Mo., 0.86 grain. The 
Dekalb and Dixon wells show a trace. The Montezuma (Ind.) analysis 
reports several substances not mentioned in the other analyses, viz : 
strontium sulphate, lithium chloride, borax, and sodium bromide, each 
with "more than a trace;" sodium iodide, a trace; calcium phosphate, 
a trace; hydrogen sulphide, 3.728 grains. In the Oakpark and Turner 
wells potassium and sodium sulphates are not separated, and in the 
Oakpark well potassium and sodium chloride are not separated. In 
the Lagrange (Mo.) well 8.17 grains of potassium carbonate were found. 

An analysis of the water from the Macomb artesian well has been 
made at the Survey office, by Mr. George Steiger, since the table was 
prepared. It is thought to represent fairly well the quality of water to 
be obtained from the St. Peter sandstone in western Illinois. The super- 
intendent of waterworks, Mr. W. E. Thompson, states that an attempt 
was made to exclude water from the water- bearing beds above the St. 
Peter, there being a continuous iron casing with tight screw joints from 
the top of the well down to the St. Peter sandstone, packed at the bot- 
tom with rubber, which was expanded by screw pressure to completely 
fill up the space between the outside of the casing and the wall of the 
well. A similar packing was also put in at 145 feet, the beginning of 
the rock formation. It is scarcely probable, therefore, that water to 
any great amount enters the well from other horizons than the St. 
Peter sandstone. A comparison of the analysis of this water with the 
analysis of the unseparated waters from a neighboring well at Barry, 
111., reveals a great difference in the amount of sodium chloride, and 
raises the question whether the Barry well and all other wells in this 
part of the State may not be greatly improved by casing out the water 
above the St. Peter sandstone. 



132 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



Analysis of St. Peter water, Maeomo, III. 
[Grams per 1,000 cubic centimeters.] 



Grams. 



SiOa 

TiO, 

SO ;! 

C0 2 

CI 

P2O5 

(basic). .. 

Al 

Fe 

Ca 

Mg 

K 

Na 

Total 



.0105 
None. 
.8326 
.2899 
.5418 
None. 
.2732 
.0007 
.0013 
.1581 
.0672 
.0237 
.8086 



3. 0076 



Hypothetical combinations. 





Grams per 
1,000 c. c. 


Grains per 
TJ. S. gallon. 


KC1 


.0*454 
.8570 

1. 4555 
.0192 
.2218 
.3950 
.0013 
. 0019 

None. 
.0105 

None. 


2.652 
50. 063 
85. 025 

1.121 
12. 956 
23. 074 

0.075 

0.111 
None. 

0.613 
None. 


NaCl 


Na,S0 4 


MgS0 4 


MgC0 3 


CaCO -i 


A1,0 3 


Fe 2 3 


TiO. 


SiO-, 


p.,o 5 


Total 


3. 0076 


175. 690 





LEVERETT.] 



WATER ANALYSES. 



133 



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E. Guteman. 

G. M.Davidson. 
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W. Haines. 
W. L.Brown. 
"W. Simpson. 

D. M. Stanner. 

K. Chauvent & Bros. 

E. G. Smith. 

(?) 

George Steiger 

(?) 
W. Haines. 
E.G.Smith. 


•IB^OX 


367.0 
91.24 
16.99 
23.23 
38.8 
60.2 

17.5 
18.0 
70.4 
18.1 
71.3 


157.4 

987. 04 

141.5 

424.05 

175. 69 
68.4 
71.9 
73.9 


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27.85 
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Clinton, Iowa, waterworks . . . 
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134 



THE WATER RESOURCES OP ILLINOIS. 



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CHAPTER X 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY 
DEEP BORINGS AT ROCK ISLAND, ILL., AND VICINITY. 



By J. A. Udden. 



GENERAL STATEMENT. 

Within a distance of 6 miles from the cities of Moline, Rock Island, 
and Davenport, 21 deep wells have been made, up to the present time 
(January, 189G), for the purpose of obtaining artesian -water. The 
-wells are scattei-ed over an area extending 11 miles east and -west and 
about G miles north and south. With the exception of the well in the 




Scale of miles 



Fig. 71. — Map showing location of deep -n-ells in Davenport, Moline. Rock Island, and suburbs, by 

J. A. Udden. 

city park in Davenport, all are located on the bottom lands of the 
Mississippi and the Rock rivers, some of them just iu the lower slope 
of the river bluffs. The well in the Davenport Park is the only one 
which has not furnished a flow of water. 

Reports on the nature of the strata explored by these borings have 

135 



136 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



been published in a few instances, but a comparative study of the 
obtainable data from this locality has not been made. At any rate, the 
results of such a study have not been placed on record. 

The author has examined specimens of drillings from six wells, and 



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drillers' "logs" have been obtained for two of these and for four others. 
It is believed that these data furnish a sufficient basis for estimating 
the thickness of the formations penetrated. They also throw consid- 
erable light on the lithological character of the rocks at different depths 



udden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 137 

and on the geological structure of the area covered. (See figs. 72 and 
<3.) 

The data which have been obtained may be found in condensed form 
at the close of this jtaper. 



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PAPEff MILL 



STRATIGRAPHIC FEATURES. 

The territory where these wells are located lies near the north limit 
of the beds of the Coal Measures and of the Devonian shales and lime- 



138 THE WATEK RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

stoue. The Ooal Measures have mostly been removed in the river val- 
leys by recent eros.on, and are now found only on either side of these 
valleys. The rocks immediately below consist of the feather-edge of 
the Devonian shales and limestone, which disappear a short distance 
to the north and east, and are succeeded in these directions and down- 
ward by the Silurian system. The drift and the Coal Measures are best 
studied in their natural exposures, but the Devonian rocks extend 
below the beds of the drainage valleys, and all the Silurian rocks are 
wholly concealed. In an account of the rocks explored by these wells 
the drift and the Coal Measures may therefore properly be omitted. 

THE DEVONIAN LIMESTONE. 

As known from exposures in this vicinity, the Devonian rocks con- 
sist of about 50 feet of shaly limestone, resting on a lower member of 
a pure white or dove-colored limestone, often brecciated, and variously 
estimated as being from 50 to 100 feet in thickness. 

The thickness of the Devonian strata as exhibited in these wells 
varies from less than 10 feet to at least 100 feet, as may be seen from 
the following figures: 

Table showing thickness of the Devonian rocks. 

Feet. 

1. East Moline, from 551 to 541 feet above tide 10 

2. Prospect Park, from 540 to 481 feet above tide 59 

3. Augustana College, from 546 to r 501 feet above tide 45 

4. Mitchell & Lynde Building, from 558 to 498 feet above tide 60 

5. Kimball House, from 567 to 467 feet above tide 100* 

These are all the wells in which the Devonian rocks have been sepa- 
rated from the Niagara limestone, which comes in below. In four of 
them the Devonian rock consists of the lower calcareous, massive, and 
brecciated ledges. At Augustana College, at the Mitchell & Lynde 
Building, and at Prospect Park there is nothing left of the upper argil- 
laceous beds, which lie above the limestone, but in the Kimball House 
well, and possibly also in the Davenport City Park well, these beds 
were present. 

The thickness of the lower limestone appears to be about 60 feet. It 
is underlain by dolomite. In the East Moline well this dolomite con- 
tained, near its upper limit, a joint of a crinoid stem, such as may be 
seen in the upper part of the Niagara limestone, where it comes up to 
the surface only a mile away. 

In the drillings from the Kimball House well, now in the collections 
of the Davenport Academy of Science, fragments in every respect like 
the Devonian limestone are seen mixed with fragments of dolomitic 
Niagara limestone, and taken from a depth of 169 feet. The size of the 
fragments and their association with green clay make it probable that 
the Devonian rock, if really encountered at this level, was not in situ. 
It is possible that the fragments have dropped down from above in the 



udden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 139 

hole, but there is some reason to think that blocks belonging to the 
upper rock may have come down in caverns. At auy rate, Niagara 
limestone was taken out at a depth of 140 feet, and clay was found 
both above and below this depth in caverns. 

Caverns may be seen in almost every quarry in the vicinity, and 
have been observed and described by several geologists who have 
examined the rocks of this region. Several if not all of the wells have 
given evidence of thfeir existence. They appear to be particularly fre- 
quent near the contact of the Devonian and the Silurian systems. A 
shallow well on the river front in Davenport entered a cave at this 
level. In the Paper Mill well, at Moliue, there was an empty cave 28 
feet deep entered at 53 feet below the surface. In the well at Augus- 
tan a College green cavern shale was noticed at a depth of 124 feet. 
The well at Carbon Cliff had to be curbed over 150 feet down to pre- 
vent the walls from caving. At this place the Devonian limestone 
comes up near by to within 10 feet of the surface. In the Milan well 
shale is reported as being found in the upper 300 feet of limestone. 
The top of this well starts in the lower solid ledges of the Devonian 
limestone, which is succeeded downward by the Niagara limestone. 

The best evidence of caverns was seen in the drillings from the well 
at the Atlantic Brewery. This is only a few rods distant from the 
quarry where Professor Hall saw caverns in the limestone filled with 
clay in 1857, * and where such caverns may yet be seen, some filled with 
sandstone, some with clay, and one with a breccia containing large 
fragments of yellow chert. The uppermost sample from this well comes 
from a depth of 210 feet and consists of dolomitic Niagara limestone. 
The next sample was taken 10 feet deeper. Besides some pieces of a 
porous maguesian limestone and a fragment of a crinoid stem, evi- 
dently belonging to the same rock as the sample above, there are sev- 
eral lumps of shale like that in the caverns in the quarry, a piece of 
yellow chert, and several pieces of sandstone, also like thut seen in 
the caves. Ten feet farther down there is a piece of limestone with 
a leached surface and a pebble of yellow chert. One-half of the sam- 
ple is sandstone. Similar material, with green cavern clay, continues 
down to 270 feet, where the dolomite begins again. The almost invari- 
able association of green clay with large leached and porous pieces of 
limestone in the borings is readily accounted for as being due to the 
existence of caverns partly or wholly filled with the clay. As long as 
the drill works in hard stone everything is pounded into fine fragments, 
and the harder the rock the finer the drillings will be, but when a cav- 
ern is entered the materials yield more readily and the borings accu- 
mulate in greater quantity before they are ground fine, and larger frag- 
ments are apt to come up in the bucket. Some of these are detached 
from the very walls of the caverns and show the roughness of surface 
and change in color due to erosion and leaching. 

1 Geology of Iowa, James Hall, Vol. I, p. 130. 



140 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



THE NIAGARA LIMESTONE. 

In the nearest exposures of the Niagara limestone it immediately 
succeeds the Devonian limestone downward. It is dolomitic, and the 
estimates of its thickness for the nearest territory where it comes into 
view range from 175 to 300 feet. In its upper part it often exhibits an 
oblique, irregular bedding, is porous, has a dull yellowish-gray color 
where weathered, and frequently contains casts of fossils, among which 
stems of crinoids, gasteropods, and brachiopods are most common. 
This is a source for many windmill wells in the district north and east 
from Kock Island. 

The lower two thirds of the formation is composed of horizontal beds 
of a compact bluish-gray rock, in which fossils are not numerous. In 
the lowest 30 or 40 feet nodular layers of white chert occur. 

As explored in the wells, this limestone varies in thickness from 276 
to 392 feet, averaging 310 feet. 

Table shoioing thickness of the Niagara limestone. 

Feet. 

1. Kimball House, from 467 to 132 feet above tide 335 

2. Mitchell & Lynde Building, from 498 to 222 feet above tide 276 

3. Prospect Park, from 481 to 125 feet above tide 356 

4. East Moline, from 541 to 149 feet above tide 392 

While the upper irregularly bedded part of this formation generally 
has a buff color in natural exposures, the samples of drillings from this 
horizon in the wells are white or even bluish- white, except where there 
is evidence of the existence of caverns, near which a faint rusty tint 
appears. In the Prospect Park well this tint prevails, although there 
are no certain indications of caverns. The porous character of the rock 
is well exhibited by the drillings from all the places. A thin bed of 
very hard rock is, however, penetrated in the Kimball House and Pros- 
pect Park borings about 250 feet above the base. Traces of fossil mol- 
lusks were seen in two cases, and casts of crinoid stems were found in 
four wells. 

In the lowest 200 feet the rock is compact, but not very hard. Dark 
blotches are seen on the larger fragments. Except in the City Park 
well at Davenport, no fossils have come up from this lower depth. 
Pieces of white chert are found in all of the wells, with one exception, 
in the drillings from the lower 40 feet, and in the Atlantic Brewery 
well this chert constitutes the greater part of the sample. 

THE HUDSON RIVER SHALE. 

The thickness of the Hudson Eiver shale (also called Cincinnati shale 
and Maquoketa shale) has been estimated for different places in Iowa, 
Illinois, and Wisconsin as ranging from 40 to 240 feet. It is by all 
geologists described as very variable in composition in the States 
named, changing from limestone through shale to sandstone. It is 
sometimes bituminous, and often contains iron pyrites, gypsum, and 



udden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 141 

other substances as accidental minerals. Sometimes it is destitute of 

fossils, and sometimes it contains them in profusion. 

As it has been explored in the wells, the Hudson River shale ranges 

in thickness from 182 to 265 feet, averaging 223 feel in nine of the wells. 

It is easily distinguished from the beds above it and below it. and the 

figures given relative to the dimensions of this shale may be considered 

reliable. 

Thickness of the Hudson River shales. 

Fei i. 

1. Glucose factory, from 152 feet above tide to 7:; below sea level 225 

2. Kimball House, from 132 feet above tide to 108 below sea level 240 

3. Mitchell A- Lynde Building, from 222 to 40 feet above tide 182 

4. Atlantic Brewery, from 157 feet above tide to 48 below sea level 205 

5. Milan, from 176 feet above tide to 39 below sea level 215 

6. Paper mill, from lfi9 feet above tide to 51 below sea level. 220 

7. Prospect Park, from 125 feet above tide to 110 below sea level 2::."") 

8. East Moline, from 149 feet above tide to lit! below sea level 265 

9. Carbon Cliff, from 112 feet above tide to 108 below sea level 220 

The lithological characters of the formation seem to be quite constant 
for the territory explored. Certain features persist for certain horizons 
in different wells. The upper 120 or 150 feet consist of a light-green or 
grayish-green shale, which is not at all or but slightly calcareous above, 
but which becomes a little more calcareous farther down. In the high- 
est 20 feet fine arenaceous material enters as an ingredient in the rock, 
and fragments of bryozoans and brachiopods occasionally appear in 
the drillings. For the next GO feet no fossils have been noticed. A 
little below the middle of the formation the shale becomes more calca- 
reous and the color turns to gray. At this horizon crinoid stems have 
been found in nearly every instance where drillings have been taken, 
and they are associated with bryozoa, which appear in prolusion in a 
sample from the Kimball House well. From this lower fossiliferous bed 
down to about 20 or 30 feet from the base of the shale pyrites is present 
more often than either above or below. The lowest part of the shale, 
from 20 to 50 feet, consists of a dark, occasionally almost black, bitu- 
minous shale. Several analyses show that it contains from 5 to 10 per 
cent of combustible matter. Seen under the microscope, this dark clay 
exhibits some peculiar brownish-yellow Hakes, with an irregular outline 
and with an uneven surface. These particles are possibly of an organic 
nature. There may also be seen irregular agglomerations of small 
spherical grains resembling sedimentary tlocculi. These occur through- 
out the entire shale, but they appear most frequently in the dark shale. 
Here they are composed of a greater number of particles than in the 
upper part of the beds. 

THE GALENA LIMESTONE. 

In Illinois and Iowa the Galena limestone is generally described as a 
drab-colored, suberystalline magnesian limestone, and it is estimated as 
ranging in thickness in these States and in "Wisconsin from 209 to L'75 
feet. 



142 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

By well drillers this limestone is generally not reported separately 
from the underlying Trenton limestone. In the Prospect Park well and 
in the well at the Mitchell & Lynde Building the two have been identi- 
fied separately, the upper rock being magnesian and the lower a more 
pure limestone. In the Milan well a change in color of the rock was 
noticed at the depth where the dividing plane should come in, and this 
change may perhaps be taken as indicating the contact between the 
two limestones. In these three wells the Galena limestone ranges in 
thickness from 200 to 353 feet, averaging 262 feet. 

Thickness of the Galena limestone. 

Feet. 

1. Mitchell & Lynde Building, from 40 feet above tide to 313 feet below sea level. 353 

2. Milan well, from 39 to 274 feet below sea level 235 

3. Prospect Park, from 100 to 310 feet below sea level 200 

For a depth of about 50 feet from its upper surface this rock appears 
as a light-gray, granular, dolomitic limestone. Fragments of bryozoa 
were seen in the drillings from the upper layers in the East Moline 
well. Below the upper 50 feet, or even a little higher up, the color 
changes to a shade of light drab or yellow, and this is the prevailing 
color all the way down to the Trenton rock. With this change there 
sometimes comes an admixture of fine sand, of grains of pure quartz, 
and of yellow, red, rose-colored, dark, and greenish quartz. At a dis- 
tance of about 100 feet below the Hudson Biver shale some small 
spherical concretions of a brown color were observed in three wells. 
They somewhat resembled oolitic spherules. In the Carbon Cliff well 
a fragment of zinc-blende came from about the same depth. Quite a 
number of the samples from this limestone contain fragments of chert. 

In the lower 200 feet a flow of water is invariably obtained, appar- 
ently at different depths in different wells, as indicated in the following 
table : 

Levels of the upper artesian water, below ton of the Galena limestone. 

Feet. 

1. Glucose factory 165 

2. Kimball House 50 

3. Mitchell & Lynde Building 300 

4. Atlantic Brewery 170 

5. Moline Paper Mill 100? 

6. Milan 200 

The great range of the figures and the variable nature of the Galena 
limestone suggest that this water is not confined to any limited and 
well-defined horizon. Most probably it may be tapped at any level 
where the rock is sufficiently porous. It always smells more strongly 
of sulphurous gas than the deeper St. Peter water. 

THE TRENTON LIMESTONE. 

Within a distance of 130 feet upward from the top of the St. Peter 
shales and sandstone the drillings taken from the wells at East Moline, 
the Kimball House, Prospect Park, and the City Park in Davenport 



tdden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 143 

consist of limestone which promptly effervesces in cold dilute acid, and 
these samples are believed to belong to the Trenton limestone. The 
thickness, so far as known, ranges from 90 to 130 feet, averaging 103 
feet. 

Thickness of the Trenton limestone. 

Feet. 

1. Mitchell & Lynde Buildiug, from 313 to 403 feet below sea level <J0 

2. Milan (brownish limestone), from 274 to 364 feet below sea level 90 

3. Prospect Park, from 310 to 440 feet below sea level 130 

Chert is present in several of the samples. Grains of sand of vari- 
ous colors are to be seen. In one iustauce there was a fragment of a 
fossil. The rocks of this horizon appear to have a pronounced fissility 
in the direction of the bedding planes. The drillings consist largely 
of flat flakes, which may be ten times as long and wide as they are 
thick. The aspect of these flakes is quite unique, and they may be 
looked upon as characteristic of the rock at this level. It appears 
reasonable to suppose that these drillings come from such thin-bedded 
and laminated layers as have been observed in the outcrops of the 
Trenton limestone in other localities. 

In four of the wells the Galena and the Trenton limestones have not 
been estimated separately, but their united thickness is known, viz: 
East Moline, 300 feet; Moline Paper Mill, 320 feet; glucose factory, 
334 feet; Argillo Works, 358 feet. If the average of these wells, which 
is at least 328 feet, be averaged with the figures from the wells ndiere 
the two limestones have been separated, we have 314 feet as the 
combined thickness of the Galena and the Trenton limestones. 

THE ST. PETER SANDSTONE AND ASSOCIATED VARIABLE BEDS. 

The accounts of this rock, as it is seen in the nearest outcrops, describe 
it as a siliceous sandstone, ranging from 10 to 250 feet in thickness. In 
some places a layer of green shale has been observed separating it 
from the limestone above. 

In the wells here discussed it is found associated with beds of finer 
sediments above and below, together almost equaling the sandstone 
itself. In all the borings except one 1 a green shale overlies the sand- 
stone and separates it from the Trenton limestone. Specimens have 
been examined from three wells, and in all cases it is a green, unctuous 
shale or clay, only slightly if at all affected by acid. It contains now 
and then good-sized rounded grains of quartz, a white, tough chert, 
exhibiting an irregularly reticulated structure on broken surfaces; also 
considerable pyrites, and lumps of more compact and darker shale. 
In the Paper Mill well, where the greatest development of this upper 
shale is reported, it was sandy, and contained " streaks of sandstone." 

1 Mitchell & Lynde Building. Even in this well the shale may have been found, though not reported, 
as the record given by Professor Southwell merely gives his own determinations Avithout any descrip- 
tion of the nature of the rock. 



144 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

Thickness of the variable beds above the St. Peter sandstone. 

Feet. 

1. City Park, from 370 to 380 feet below sea level 10 

2. Glucose factory, from 407 to 437 feet below sea level 30 

3. Paper mill, from 371 to 511 feet below sea level 140 

4. Milan, from 364 to 394 feet below sea level 30 

5. Prospect Park, from 440 to 480 feet below sea level 40 

6. East Moline, from 416 to 446 feet below sea level 30 

Average 41 

The St. Peter sandstone retains its nsual character. In all the sam- 
ples seen it consists of well-rounded grains of mostly clear quartz. Iu 
the East Moline well there was a notable admixture of opaque white 
grains and of reddish and greenish grains. It contains a never-failing 
supply of water, rising to a level of 650 feet above the sea level. 

Thickness of the St. Ptter sandstone. 

Feet. 

1. City Park, from 380 to 470 feet below sea level 90 

2. Glucose factory, from 437 to 479 feet below sea level 42 

3. Mitchell & Lyude Building, from 401 to 546 feet below sea level 145? 

4. Paper mill, from 511 to 576 feet below sea level 65 

5. Milan, from 394 to 484 feet below sea level 90 

6. Prospect Park, from 480 to 530 feet below sea level 50 

7. East Moline, from 446 to 496 feet below sea level 50 

Average 76 

A bed of clay occurs again below the sand, but this is more variable 
thau the clay above. In the Prospect Park well it is a green shale, 
which, as far as explored, is quite similar to the shale above the sand- 
stone. In the City Park well at Davenport some of it is white, some 
green, and some purple-red. There are also some pyrites and some 
white and porous chert. Several of the pieces are gritty. In the Paper 
Mill well a "red marl" was found directly under the sand. In the East 
Moline well a "red marl " 35 feet thick was separated from the sand- 
stone above by 105 feet of limestone. In this case both the limestone 
and the "red marl" may perhaps rather be regarded as belonging to 
the limestone below. But a somewhat similar succession was noticed 
in the Milan well, and here the resemblance is rather with the sand- 
stone above. In this well G5 feet of "sandy limestone," "sand and 
limestone with shale and crevices," and "hard and sharp sandstone" 
follow under the St. Peter sandstone, and then there is a " red marl" 10 
feet thick. 

Thickness of the variable beds under the St. Peter sandstone. 

Feet. 

1. City Park, from 470 to 500 feet below sea level .' 30 

2. Milan, from 484 to 559 feet below sea level 75 

3. Prospect Park, from 530 feet to well bottom 20-h 

4. East Moline, from 496 to 636 (? ) feet below sea level 140 f 

Average 66 



udden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 145 



THE LOWER MAGNESIAS LIMESTONE. 

In its nearest exposures to the north this rock is not known to much 
exceed 200 feet in thickness. It is described as a Light-colored magne- 
sian limestone, with chert and occasional intercalations of sandy and 
shaly materia], especially in its upper part. From some deep wells in 
Iowa it is reported as being several hundred feet in thickness. 1 

Five of the wells are known to have entered this limestone, and two 
(really four, counting the several wells at the glucose factory separately) 
extend through it. Drillings from it have been examined by the writer 
from only one well, the one in the city park in Davenport. These con- 
sist of finely ground white magnesian limestone, with some admixture 
of sand, chert, and green shale. The records from the other wells 
describe it as "sandy limestone," "sandy magnesian limestone," or 
merely as "limestone." In the East Moline well there was a stratum 
of sand 3 feet thick 60 feet below the top of the limestone, and in the 
Paper Mill well alternations with shale are indicated for the upper part 
of the limestone. The rock below the St. Peter sandstone is there 
described as "red marl and limestone," extending down to 892 feet 
below the sea level. At this depth there was 121 feet of sandstone 
(called "Potsdam sandstone"), below which limestone again was en- 
countered as far down as the well extended. 

Thickness of the Lower Magnesian limestone. 

Feet. 

1.* City Park, from 500 feet below sea level to well bottom 503+ 

2. Glucose factory (one well), from 479 feet below sea level to well bottom .. . 459+ 

3. Glucose factory (three wells), from 479 to 1,267 feet below sea level 788 

4. Mitchell & Lynde Building, from 546 to 1,357 feet below sea level 811 

5. Paper mill, from 587 feet below sea level to well bottom 487+ 

6. Milan, from 559 feet below sea level to well bottom 32+ 

7. East Moline, from 636 feet below sea level to well bottom 125+ 

Average (for four wells) 800 

THE POTSDAM ROCKS. 

The glucose factory wells and the well at the Mitchell & Lynde 
Building are the only ones which extend below the Lower Magnesian 
limestone. The writer has not seen any samples from either place. 
The drillings from the Mitchell & Lynde well were examined by Prof. 
J. H. Southwell, and he has reported these lowest formations in a more 
descriptive way than he reported the formations above. The data from 
the glucose factory wells were furnished by the drillers. This circum- 
stance may perhaps explain some differences between the two accounts. 
Professor Southwell reports 30 feet of "compact sandstone" lying 
under the Lower Magnesian limestone. In the other wells there was 
40 feet of " shale." The material may have been a somewhat indurated, 

1 See thickness of tlie Paleozoic strata of northeastern Iowa, by William H. Norton: Iowa Geolog- 
cal Survey, Vol. Ill, p. 184. 

6137 10 



146 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 



fine-grained, clastic rock, alike in both wells, and verging on tlie border 
between the descriptions given, or there may have been a slight change 
in the bed horizontally. Under this there was in both wells a calcare- 
ous rock, 35 feet of " limestone" in the well at Rock Island, and 20 feet 
of " sandy limestone" in the well at Davenport. Then follow 130 feet 
of "sandstone" in the former well and 160 feet of "sandy rock" in the 
latter. In the well at the Mitchell & Lynde Building this rests on 
75 feet of " shaly limestone and shale," and in the glucose factory wells 
there is 51 feet or more of "shale." Below this, again, the former well 
penetrated 97 feet of "sandstone." The close resemblance of the 
strata reported from these wells with the Potsdam series in Wisconsin 
reported by Prof. T. 0. Chamberlin may be presented in a table, viz: 

Table shoiving close resemblance of the strata ivith the Potsdam series in Wisconsin. 





Mitchell 
& Lynde 
Building. 


Glucose 
factory. 


Wisconsin section. 


Compact sandstone or shale. 

Limestone, arenaceous 

Sandstone 


Feet. 
30 

35 

130 
75 
97+ 


Feet. 
40 

20 

160 
50+ 


30 feet Madison sand- 
stone. 

35 feet Mendota shale 
and limestone. 

150 feet sandstone. 

80 feet shale. 

300 feet sandstone. 


Shaly limestone and shale 

Sandstone 


Total penetrated 




347 


270 



Judging from the position and the succession of these beds, there 
seems to be good reason to believe that the sections are equivalent. 
Another circumstance of the same import is the fact that the sand- 
stone is water-bearing, and that the head of its flow is slightly higher 
than that of the water from the St. Peter sandstone. 

In the following table of "thickness of the formations and elevations 
of the contacts" the main results of the study are presented. 

This table is followed by a generalized geological section for Bock 
Island and vicinity, based upon this study. 



PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 



147 









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148 



THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 
EXAMINATION OF WELL DRILLINGS 



DAVENPORT, IOWA; WELLS AT THE GLUCOSE FACTORY. 

[Elevation of the curbs of the wells, 562 feet above tide.] 

At the glucose factory in Davenport four wells have been drilled 
close together, no two wells being more than 250 feet apart. The logs 



YTTTT 



S 



rn: 



i r 



s 



Bryozoa Brach '/opocts 

Crinoicf stems 
Bryoi.oa 
Pyrites 
Traces of Bituminous 
matter 



ffi 



s 



T7T77 



U 



CO 



en 



EX3 



Stems ofCrinoids 
Gasteropods 

Pock sometimes 
very nard 



White Chert 



Arenaceous Shale 
Calcareous Shale 



Bituminous Shale 



Bryozoa and Chert 
varicolored Sands 

Artesian Water 
A rtesian Water 
Chert 



Brachiopods 
Thin f /aires Chert 
pyrites far/colored 
Sands 



Pyrites and Chert 



Artesian Water 



Pyrites and Chert 



Sandy 



Sandy 



Artesian Water 



Artesian Water 



Loess i-o' 



Bowlder Clay 60 ' 



Dark Shale 30' 



Pure Limestone 



Porous Magnesian 
Limestone 



inesian 
Limestone 



Magnesian 
Limestone S4-4-' 



Limestone IOO 



Green Shale -4-1 ' 



Sand 76 ' 



Varicolored Shale 
Sand and Limestone 



Magnesian 

L imes tone800 ' 



Sandstone orShale3o 
LimestoneSandy 27 T 



Sandstone /4-S 



Shaly Limestone 75 



Sandstone 97 v- 



Pleistocene loo ' 



Coal Measures 30' 



Devonian 55 ' 



Niagara 34-0' 



Hudson Piver B£3 



Galena 24+ 



Trenton IOO 



St Peter 183' 



Lower Magnesian 
Limestone 800 ' 



Potsdam 379 * 



Fig. 74. — Generalized geological section for Rock Island and vicinity, Toy J. A. TJdden. 

are reported to have been quite similiar in all four wells. Mr. William 
Schoendeler, the engineer, has furnished the following record as repre- 



tjdden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 149 

senting the formations explored in one of the wells: Surface material, 
52 feet; bluisli limestone, 358 feet; shale, 225 feet; limestone, 334 feet; 
shale, 30 feet ; sandstone, 42 feet; sandy limestone, 530 feet; no record, 
25S feet (Mr. Schoendeler thinks the rock in this interval was sandy 
limestone like that immediately above); shale, 40 feet; sandy lime- 
stone, 20 feet; sandy rock, 1G0 feet; shale, 50 feet. 

DAVENPORT, IOWA; WELL AT THE CITY PARK. 

[Elevation of the curb, 704 feet above title.] 

Samples of drillings from this well were taken by Dr. A. S. Tiffany, 
who Las published his determinations of the same in the American 
Geologist, Vol. Ill, p. 117. This set of drillings is the only one from 
this locality with samples from the Lower Magnesian limestone that 
the present writer has examined. It has been in the hands of several 
parties. The labels are extremely unsatisfactory, owing to the fact that 
they have been changed, erased, and rewritten in several instances. 
Uncertain depths are indicated thus (?). The following are the pres- 
ent writer's identifications: 

1 (574 feet above tide) : Compact calcareous limestone. Devonian. 

2 C354 ! feet above tide): Yellowish magnesian limestone, some clay, and some 
eroded fragments, somewhat porous. Niagara. 

3 (324 feet above tide) : Large fragments of a porous, light, yellowish magnesian 
limestone, some fragments with apparently eroded surfaces. Niagara. 

4 (304? feet above tide) : Gray magnesian limestone, somewhat porous. Niagara. 

5 (244? feet above tide): Almost pulverized magnesian limestone, cream-colored. 
Niagara. 

6 (214? feet above tide) : Fragments of a sandy gray shale, which have been washed 
out from the softer body of the shale or clay; a small brachiopod. Hudson River. 

7 (54 feet above tide) : Dark-gray magnesian limestone, with minute rounded dark 
and black grains. Galena. 

8 (21 feet below sea level) : Gray magnesian limestone. Galena. 

9 (121? feet below sea level): Yellowish-gray magnesian limestone in fine frag- 
ments, and containing rounded minute nodules of pyrites. Galena. 

10 (246 feet below sea level) : Light-gray limestone, readily effervescing with acids, 
in fine fragments. Trenton. 

11 (321 feet below sea level) : Gray limestone, effervescing with acids, in thin, flaky 
fragments. Trenton. 

12 (371 feet below sea level) : Green clay, or shale, with some sand and pyrites. 
Shale associated with the St. Peter sandstone. 

13 (376? feet below sea level) : Somewhat coarse, well rounded, white sand, with a 
small admixture of grains of dark, green, and pinkish color. St. Peter sandstone. 

14 (376-f- ? feet below sea level) : Like the above, slightly more yellowish. St. Peter 
sandstone. 

15 (456 feet below sea level) : White, purple, and green shale, in large lumps ; some 
white chert and pyrites. Shale associated with the St. Peter sandstone. 

16 (486 feet below sea level) : Magnesian limestone in fine fragments, mixed with 
sand; a large number of fragments of a hard, green shale. The green fragments 
appear frequently to have been worn round. Lower magnesian limestone. 

17 (546 feet below sea level) : Like 16, but with a larger admixture of magnesian 
limestone. Lower masjnesian limestone 



1 Possibly 304 feet. 



150 THE WATEK RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

18 (596 feet below sea level) : Same as 17, but finer and with less sand. Lower 
niagnesian limestone. 

19 (1,093 feet below sea level) : Same as above. Lower magnesian limestone. 

DAVENPORT, IOWA J WELL AT THE KIMBALL HOUSE. 

[Elevation of the curb of the well, 580 feet.] 

Two series of samples were taken from this well, one by Mr. A. S. 
Tiffany, and one by the curator of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. 
The samples in each series were taken at irregular intervals. The two 
sets complete each other. Workmen who were present when the well 
was made state that the depth of the well is 1,050 feet, the bottom 
being in sandstone. On a label on one of the samples taken by the 
curator of the Davenport Academy of Sciences is a note to the effect 
that a shale 240 feet in thickness began at a depth of 448 feet. Mr. 
Tiffany reports that the drift was 13 feet deep. 

1 (567 feet above tide) : Dove-colored calcareous limestone. 

2 (500 feet above tide) : White calcareous limestone, some few fragments of mag- 
nesian limestone. 

3 (452 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone in rather large fragments, a 
few darker pieces, some shale and pyrites, casts of a gasteropod and of a crinoid stem. 

4 (405 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone; some green shale. 

5 (275 feet above tide) : Grayish-white magnesian limestone. 

6 (155 feet above tide) : Same, in large fragments, with apparently eroded surfaces; 
also chips of white chert. 

7 (132 feet above tide) : Pieces of magnesian limestone, of dark shale and of gray 
arenaceous shale; also of concretions of pyrites, and a joint of a crinoid stem. 

8 (15 feet above tide) : Shaly limestone filled with Bryozoa; also some pyrites. 

9 (110 feet below sea level) : Yellowish-gray magnesian limestone. 

10 (150 feet below sea level) : Yellowish-gray magnesian limestone, ground fine, a 
considerable admixture of sand of dark, black, yellow, and rose-colored grains. 

11 and 12 (180? 1 and 220 feet below sea level): Yellowish-gray magnesian lime- 
stone, with some grains resembling white chert, fragments very fine. 

13 (245 feet below sea level) : Dull buff-gray magnesian limestone, ground up fine. 

The samples taken by the curator at the Davenport Academy of 
Sciences are: 

1 (567 feet above tide) : Calcareous limestone. 

2 (505 feet above tide) : Green clay, with ground-up calcareous limestone. 

3 and 4 (501 and 479? feet above tide) : White calcareous limestone. 

5 (470 feet above tide) : Green clay. 

6 (440 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone. 

7 (411 feet above tide) : Large lumps of white calcareous limestone (Devonian) and 
magnesian limestone (Silurian). 

8 (411 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone, ground up fine, also some 
green clay. A note on the label says : "Hardest yet found." 

9 (275 feet above tide) : Green clay, with quartz sand. 

10 (260 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone. 

11 (220 feet above tide) : Grayish magnesian limestone. 

12 and 13 (180 and 155 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone. 

14 to 16 (132, 80, and 40 feet above tide) : Dark gray clay; calcareous at 40 feet. 

1 Label obscure. 



uddkn.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 151 

17 (90 feet below sea level) : Almost black clay, distilling oil, and containing brown 
microscopic scales of irregular outline; also some rounded black grains. 

18 (110 feet below sea level) : Gray magnesian limestone, with a buff tinge. 

19 and 20 (145 and 155 feet below sea level) : Same, with some blnisli fragments and 
some greenisb grains. 

21 (240 feet below sea level) : Magnesian limestone of a faint buff color, with some 
darker fragments. A number of spherical concretions ( ?) were observed, ^ mm. in 
diameter and less, some single and some in groups of two and three. Their outer 
surface was reddish, and their form resembled that of oolitic spherules. 

21a (240 feet below sea level) : Magnesian limestone of a faint buff color. 

22 (340 feet below sea level) : Limestone, with some red and green grains of sand. 

ROCK ISLAND, ILL.; WELL AT MITCHELL & LYNDE BUILDING. 

[Elevation of the curb of the well, 558 feet above tide.] 

Prof. J. H. Southwell was closely watching the progress of the drill- 
ing of this well in 1890 and 1893, and he has given to the proprietors 
of the well the following section of the rocks explored: Devonian lime- 
stone, 60 feet; Niagara limestone, 276 feet; Cincinnati shale, 180 feet; 
Galena limestone, 353 feet; Trenton limestone, 90 feet; St. Peter sand- 
stone, 145 feet; Lower Magnesian limestone, 811 feet; Potsdam rocks: 
compact sandstone 30 feet, limestone 35 feet, sandstone 130 feet, shaly 
limestone and shale 75 feet, sandstone 97 feet. 

ROCK ISLAND, ILL.; WELL AT ATLANTIC BREWERY. 

[Elevation of the curb, 577 feet above tide.] 

Specimens of borings were obtained from the proprietors three years 
after the well was made. The samples were mostly taken at intervals 
of 10 feet, but the set examined lacks the samples from the upper and 
from the lower part of the well. Prof. J. H. Southwell, who watched 
the work as it proceeded, has stated that the upper 150 feet of the hole 
was chiefly through sandstone. The Devonian limestone has been 
extensively quarried close by, and it exhibits several caverns, now 
filled with sand and clay of the Coal Measures. The total depth of the 
well is in the neighborhood of 1,100 feet. 

1 (367 feet above tide) : Grayish- white magnesian limestone, in large lumps. 

2 (357 feet above tide) : Same, porous ; also a little shale, white sandstone, and some 
chert. A cast of a fragment of a crinoid stem was seen in the limestone. 

3 (347 feet above tide): Eroded lumps of porous magnesian limestone; cast of a 
Murchisonia. A large part of the sample was sandstone. A good-sized pebble of 
yellow flint was observed. It resembled the yellow flint occurring in the basal con- 
glomerate of the Coal Measures seen in the outcrops near by in old caverns. 

4 (337 feet above tide) : Chiefly sandstone; one dark pebble; some green clay. 

5 (317 feet above tide) : White sandstone and green clay. 

6 (307 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone, sand, and flint pebbles. 

7 (297 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone and some sandstone. 

8 (287 feet above tide) : White sandstone in large lumps. 

9 (277 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone, sandstone, and a lump of 
pyrites. 



152 THE WATER RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

10 to 12 (247, 217, and 197 feet above tide) : White magnesiau limestone ; some sand. 

13 (187 feet above tide) : Mostly sand. 

14 (177 feet above tide) : Mostly white chert; large fragments of dolomite; a few 
fragments of sandstone. 

15 (152 feet above tide) : Greenish, slightly calcareous clay, with microscopic spher- 
ical grains of quartz. A joint of a crinoid stem was found. 

16 (142 feet above tide) : Greenish, slightly calcareous clay, with grains of quartz, 
as above. 

17 (127 feet above tide) : As above. Bryozoans and brachiopods in calcareous 
fragments. 

18 (117 feet above tide) : Greenish, slightly calcareous clay. 

19 (97 feet above tide) : Same, somewhat lighter in color. 

20 (77 feet above tide): Gray shale, with fine sand and pyrites. 

21 (67 feet above tide) : Gray shale, with fragments of limestone, showing marks 
of fossils. One joint of a crinoid stem, apparently worn. 

22 and 23 (57 and 47 feet above tide) : Gray shale, with fragments of limestone and 
pyrites, traces of fossils. Bryozoan at 47 feet. 

24 to 26 (37, 27, and 7 feet above tide) : Gray calcareous clay or shale, with lumps 
of darker material. 

27 to 29 (3, 13, and 23 feet below sea level) : Gray calcareous clay or shale, with 
lumps of darker material. Pyrites at 13 feet. 

30 (43 feet below sea level) : Dark calcareous clay or shale, bituminous, with micro- 
scopic brown flakes of irregular shape, and with rounded agglomerations of minute 
dark particles. 

31 and 32 (53 and 73 feet below sea level) : Grayish-white magnesiau limestone, 
with scattered fragments of chert. 

33 to 45 (83, 93, 103, 113, 123, 133, 143, 153, 163, 173, 183, 193, and 213 feet below sea 
level): Yellowish-gray magnesiau limestone. Green clay at 143 and 173 feet; chert 
at 153 feet. 

ROOK ISLAND, ILL.; WELL AT AUGUSTANA COLLEGE. 

A few rods to the southeast of the main building of Augustana Col- 
lege a well has been drilled to the depth of 150 feet. In this well the 
drift was nearly 50 feet in thickness. This rests on 30 feet of shales 
of the Coal Measures, a thin coal seam occurring at a depth of 70 feet. 
Under the Coal Measures there is 45 feet of compact calcareous lime- 
stone, identical with the rock in the Devonian outcrops near by. The 
lowest 25 feet of the well was in magnesian limestone, evidently belong- 
ing to the Niagara formation. The elevation of the curb of this well is 
about 626 feet above tide. 

MILAN, ILL.; TOWN WELL. 

[Elevation of the curb of the well, 566 feet above tide.] 

The drillers of this well recorded the following data, published in the 
Milan News: Drift, 7 feet; white limestone with some shale, 383 feet; 
shale, 160 feet; shale with streaks of limestone, 55 feet; brown lime- 
stone, 95 feet; white limestone, 140 feet; brownish limestone, 90 feet; 
shale, 30 feet; sand, 90 feet; sandy limestone, 10 feet; sand and lime- 
stone with some shale and crevices, 35 feet; hard and sharp sandstone, 
20 feet; red marl, 10 feet; white limestone, 3 J feet. 



udden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 153 

MOLINE, ILL.; WELL IN PROSPECT PARK. 

[Elevation of the curb, fill feet above tide.] 

Specimens of drillings have been examined from levels 10 feet apart 
for nearly the whole depth, as indicated below: 

1 (540 feet above tide) : Compact calcareous limestone, quartz, sand, and coal. 

2 to 4 (510, 500. and 490 feet above tide) : Compact calcareous limestone, some 
pyrites and sand. 

5 (480 feet above tide): Compact calcareous limestone and some fragments of 
magnesian limestone, coal, and pyrites. 

6 to 8 (470, 460, and 450 feet above tide) : Whitish, straw-colored magnesian lime- 
stone, somewhat porous, fragments large. Crinoid stem at 450 feet. 

9 and 10 (440 and 430 feet above tide) : Grayish-white magnesian limestone, some 
fragments large and with eroded surfaces, cavern clay. Crinoid stem at 430 feet. 

11 and 12 (420 and 410 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone. Cavern clay 
at 410 feet. 

13 to 27 (400, 390, 380, 370, 360, 350, 340, 330, 320, 310, 300, 290, 280, 270, 260, and 250 
feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone with bluish tinge at 400; large frag- 
ments with eroded surfaces at 390; some blue clay at 370; pyrites at 360 feet. 

28 and 29 (240 and 230 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone with a yellow- 
ish tinge, some large and porous fragments. 

30 (220 feet above tide) : Same, not porous, a cluster of small quartz crystals. 

31 and 32 (210 and 200 feet above tide) : Compact white magnesian limestone. 

33 and 34 (190 and 180 feet above tide): Grayish-white magnesian limestone, in 
coarse and porous fragments, with crystals on some surfaces. 

35 to 39 (170, 160, 150, 140, and 130 feet above tide) : Grayish-white magnesian lime- 
stone, with fragments of white chert; green shale at 150; angular quartz grains at 
130 feet. 

40 and 41 (120 and 110 feet above tide) : Bull-gray shale. Brachiopod fragments 
at 110 feet. 

42 (100 feet above tide) : Darker-gray shale. 

43 to 47 (90, 80, 70, 60, and 50 feet above tide) : Gray shale, with pyrites ; a few tine 
sand grains. Color more greenish at 50 feet. 

48 to 53 (40, 30, 20, and 10 feet above tide, at sea level, and 10 feet below sea level) : 
Bluish-gray shale, microscopic spherical grains of sand. ( ?) Fragments of dark lime- 
stone at 30 and 10 feet. 

54 (20 feet below sea level) : Gray shale, octahedral and cubic crystals of pyrites; 
a fragment of a crinoid stem. 

55 to 57 (30, 40, and 50 feet below sea level) : Gray shale, microscopic spherules; 
latter in clusters at 50 feet. 

58 to 61 (60, 70, 80, and 90 feet below sea level): Dark-gray shale, with brown 
microscopic flakes of irregular outline, possibly of organic origin. The shale is 
bituminous, distilling a brown oil and losing 9 per cent in weight on ignition. 

62 (100 feet below sea level) : Gray shale, microscopic spherules in clusters. 

63 to 67 (110, 120, 130, 140, and 150 feet below sea level): Grayish dolomitic lime- 
stone, subgranular. 

68 to 80 (160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, and 280 feet below sea 
level): Yellowish-gray dolomitic limestone. Chert at 210, 260, aud 280; lumps of 
green clay at 270 feet. 

81 to 90 (300, 310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, and 390 feet below sea level): 
Slightly straw-colored calcareous limestone, in quite coarse fragments; chert at 380; 
thin flat fragments at 390 feet. 

91 to 94 (400, 410, 420, and 430 feet below sea level) : Bluish-gray calcareous lime- 
stone. 



154 THE WATEK RESOURCES OF ILLINOIS. 

95 to 98 (450, 460, 470, and 480 feet below sea level) : Greenish clay, with rounded 
sand grains and white chert, occasionally with some pyrites; chert shows reticulated 
structure at 470 feet. 

99 to 101 (490, 510, and 530 feet below sea level) : Well rounded pure quartz sand. 

102 and 103 (540 and 550 feet below sea level) : Greenish clay, with pyrites and 
some harder rounded pieces. 

MOLINE, ILL.; WELL AT THE PAPER MILL. 

[Blevatiou of the curb of the well, 564 feet above tide.] 

At the time this well was completed, Mr. W. H. Pratt published in 
the proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences a record of the 
strata as given by the drillers. This record reads: Surface soil, 7 feet; 
Devonian limestone, 113 feet; Niagara limestone, 275 feet; Maquoketa 
shale, 220 feet; Galena and Trenton limestones, 320 feet; sandy shales 
and streaks of sandstone, 141 feet; St. Peter sandstone, 65 feet; red 
marl and limestone, 31G feet; Potsdam standstone (supposed), 121 feet; 
limestone, 50 feet. At a depth of 53 feet there was a cavern 28 feet 
deep, and a " strong sulphur water" was reported at a depth of 700 feet. 

EAST MOLINE, ILL. 

[Elevation of the curb, 579 feet above tide.] 

Samples of drillings from this well were obtained from Mr. E. H. 
Pope, the president of the East Moline Company. These samples 
were taken at depths indicated below. A written record of the rocks 
explored was secured from the drillers just after the well was com- 
pleted. It reads: Drift, 28 feet; limestone, from 28 to 430; shale, from 
430 to 695; limestone, from 695 to 995; shale, from 995 to 1,025; sand- 
stone, from 1,025 to 1,075; limestone, from 1,075 to 1,180; red marl, 
from 1,180 to 1,215; limestone, from 1,215 to 1,275; sand, from 1,275 
to 1,278; limestone, from 1,278 to 1,340. 

1 (549 feet above tide) : Large fragments of compact calcareous limestone, with 
smaller fragments of the same and of magnesian limestone, all of white color. There 
was also some green clay and some reddish marly material. A crinoid stem. 

2 (179 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone and some greenish clay. 

3 (149 feet above tide): Grayish-white shale, with microscopic round grains in 
irregular agglomerations, one fragment of white chert, and a trace of a fossil. The 
chert is of the kind Jound in the base of the overlying limestone. 

4 (56 feet below sea level) ; Dark shale, with bituminous material, xt contained 
microscopic yellow flakes of irregular outline, some pieces of harder and darker 
material, and some pyrites of iron. 

5 (116 feet below sea level) : Rusty, gray, subgranular limestone, effervescing slowly 
•with strong acid ; Bryozoa. 

6 (221 feet below sea level) : White magnesian limestone in small fragments, with 
colorless, greenish, and pink-colored rounded sand grains, and with small, dark 
spherical concretions. 

7 (321 feet below sea level) : Dark and buff calcareous limestone, with brachiopods, 
pyrites, and crystalline calcite. The drillings split into thin flakes. 

8 (421 feet below sea level) : Green clay, with some darker lumps and pyrites. 

9 (471 feet below sea level) : Well-rounded quartz sand, with some opaque white, 
black, green, and rusty grains. 



udden.] PALEOZOIC ROCKS EXPLORED BY DEEP BORINGS. 155 

CARBON CLIFF, ILL. 

[Elevation of the curb, 592 feet above tide.] 

The specimens of drillings from this well were given to the writer by 
Mr. Milo Lee, proprietor of the Argillo works at Carbon Cliff. This 
gentleman stated that the well had to be cased 200 feet down from the 
top to keep the rock from caving in. The total depth of the well is in 
the neighborhood of 950 feet, and the driller stated that it stopped in 
limestone. The thirteenth sample was taken at a depth of 600 feet, 
and on the label of this sample was written the note: "The past 120 
feet a dark shale." 

1 (442 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone. 

2 and 3 (432 and 422 feet above tide) : Grayish- white magnesian limestone, with 
some darker fragments ; pyrites at 422 feet. 

4 to 6 (392, 292, and 252 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone in coarse 
fragments; dark fragments at 252 feet. 

7 (232 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone, ground line, and containing 
some sand. 

8 (212 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone, with some gray shale. 

9 to 12 (172, 152, 132, and 112 feet above tide) : White magnesian limestone. 

13 (8 feet below sea level) : Green calcareous shale, with some darker fragments, 
some pyrites, and a joint of a crinoid stem. 

14 (88 feet below sea level) : Very dark, almost black, calcareous shale, with much 
pyrites and with thin microscopic yellow flakes of an irregular outline. In the 
closed tube the material distils a brown oil. 

15 to 20 (128, 138, 158, 178, 218, and 223 feet below sea level:) Gray, somewhat gran- 
ular, magnesian limestone; large fragments at 178 feet; some gray shale and a small 
fragment of zinc-blende at 223 feet. 



